The Amazing Final Fantasy Race: Season 2
by Goatbob
Summary: Twelve teams of two from Final Fantasy 4 to Final Fantasy 12 race across worlds for the prize of one million gil. Based off the popular reality show The Amazing Race.
1. Episode 1, Part 1

_[Author's Note: This is the second season of my story,_ The Amazing Final Fantasy Race _. The first season is uploaded here, too, so if you're new to this, you can start there, although, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I recommend the second season a lot more than the first, which started off more goofy and profane than later seasons. This is the last season I will upload to because my later seasons have images and HTML that work better on a website, so if you'd like to read more or find extras for the first two seasons, check out my website: . Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!]_

Gippal stood alone in the middle of a giant desert. Sand swirled around in the air and collected in large waves. The sun hanged brilliantly behind him and several small cactus people known as cactuars ran around at his feet.

"I'm standing in the middle of the Sanubia Sands on Bikanel Islands," Gippal announced. "This seemingly barren desert was formerly home to the glorious race of people known as the Al Bhed. During the time of High Summoner Yuna, the Al Bhed helped summoners to give up their foolish quests and look for other alternatives to defeating Sin. From this glorious location, twelve teams will embark on a race around worlds for one million gil in the second season of the critically noticed _Amazing Final Fantasy Race_. This season has new twists and turns, including an additional team, totaling _twelve_ teams of two, each with a preexisting relationship. Sand gliders are transporting the teams to the starting line. The twelve teams are:"  
Twelve large machina drove toward Gippal's location. The machina were large fan boats capable of gliding atop the soft, hot sands. Each held an Al Bhed driver and two racers.

"Celes Chere and Cid Del Norte Marquez: test subject and researcher from Vector in the _Fantasy 6_ verse."  
Celes, a slender young woman with long blond hair wearing what is best described as a general's outfit and a bathing suit, stood on a beach beside Cid, an elderly man wearing a yellow slicker. The waves behind them rode up the shore and to their knees before washing back out to the sea  
"Cid made me what I am, and I owe everything to him," Celes said. "He raised me since I was two and infused me with the gift of magic. I would not have become the woman I am today without him, and that bond is what will guarantee us a victory.  
"I also would not be where I am without Celes," Cid explained. "She helped care for me when I was ill and was the reason I-"  
Celes quickly reached into the water beneath her and yanked out a fish. She handed it to Cid.  
"I'm fine now, Celes," Cid said. He tossed the fish back into the water. "Oh whatever. I have the brains to get us through and she has the power and speed of a warrior. She catches _fish_ with her _hands_ for God's sake!"

"Queen Brahne Alexandros and Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII: mother and daughter from Alexandria in the _Fantasy 9_ verse."  
Garnet, a young woman with short black hair wearing an orange spandex outfit that hugged her slim figure tightly, stood beside her mother, Brahne, a large blue woman wearing a golden opera helmet and elegant robes which should not have hugged her tightly, yet did. They stood on a balcony with the entire city as their backdrop.  
"I'm technically not from Alexand-" Garnet started.  
"Nobody cares, sweetie," Brahne said to Garnet. She turned her attention to the camera. "We were absolutely thrilled that this show chose to use us in their little game. I so wanted to when I saw the last season and-"  
"We were picked out of pity," Garnet informed the camera. "My mother was originally rejected because of her size and inability to move without assistance, but she cried so loudly and for several hours until they finally gave in and allowed her to race on the condition that she shapes up. That will be our biggest asset, I believe. She still appears to be unfit to race, which will cause teams to count us out as a threat. But we will surprise them with our skills."  
"It's a preemptive strike!" Brahne declared with a clenched fist. "We'll overwhelm them before they even know they are under attack and cripple them to the point where they must give in to our every demand and-"  
"Mother please!" Garnet screamed. "Remember your therapy."  
"Yes, sweetie," Brahne said. She took a deep breath and began chasing a colorful butterfly.  
"We can win," Garnet said. "It may be difficult though."

"Freya Crescent and Sir Fratley: reunited lovers from Burmecia in the _Fantasy 9_ verse."  
Freya, a large female rat walking on hind legs with white, human-like hair, wore her standard red armor and helmet. She stood beside another rat, Fratley. He wore standard traveling clothes and hid his long blonde, human-like hair under a large brown hat. Both stood in a city that was built in a large tree. Behind them was a sandstorm that constantly circled the perimeter of the city. Both leapt into the air higher than one should ever be able to leap and landed on a tree branch above. They sat on the branch and Fratley put his arm around Freya.  
"Fratley left me to see the world," Freya explained. "He said he would return one day, but never did. I prayed he was safe, but felt he had left me forever, but one day he returned. Unfortunately, he suffered from a horrible case of amnesia and could not remember anything. Not even me."  
"I remember little of my adventure," Fratley said. "But something pulled me back to my old world. I barely remember Freya, but I know there is something between us that I have to discover."  
"We decided that this race might be the best thing for us," Freya said. "We sat at home and talked for days, but it all seems like made-up stories to him."  
"If we race together, I hope that my memory will return in full," Fratley said. "By experiencing her in her element, and me in mine, I just pray the connection can be made again. I hope by the end I know who she is again. And if I can't remember how I used to love her, then maybe this race will bring an all new love."  
"We can only hope," Freya said. "And if not, then there's always a million gil to look forward to."  
"I'm optimistic for both," Fratley said with a smile.

"Reno and Rude: partners from Midgar in the _Fantasy 7_ verse."  
Rude, a tall bald man with a goatee wearing a dark suit and equally dark sunglasses, stood stoically behind his partner, Reno, a redhead with the same attire only his sunglasses sat in his unkempt hair and his suit looked as if a drunk blind man had dressed him. Behind them in the distance was a large metallic reactor, which spewed bright green chemicals from the top. Reno addressed the camera while making exaggerated gestures to emphasize his points.  
"Rude and I have already won the race and started the after party," Reno said. "We're Turks. Turks play hard. They play tough, y'know. We'll get everything done fast, then life is going to be sweeter than triple sec."  
Rude grunted in agreement and nodded.  
"Nobody stands in the way of the Turks y'know," Reno said. "If they know what's best, they'll just step aside. We stop at nothing and nothing stops us. Or, wait. What am I trying to say?" Reno looked to Rude, who simply shrugged. "Whatever. We're winning, y'know."

"Reina Tycoon and Faris Scherwiz: sisters from Tycoon Castle in the _Fantasy 5_ verse."  
Reina, a petite young lady with pink hair wearing a tan tunic, stood beside Faris, a tall woman with long purple hair wearing elegant male pirate clothing. They both sat on the ledge of the aft of a pirate's ship.  
"We be everything a team needs ter win," Faris said. "She's got the twinkle in her eye and I got the spit in me gullet."  
"We're partly in this race to try to understand each other," Reina said. "I love my sister, but even after saving the world, I... I have no idea what she says sometimes."  
"Aye."  
"We're just hoping this race will bring us together so that we can finally be a family. I won't leave the castle, but she won't leave this ship, and we're just hoping we'll come together by the end."  
"It are also about the booty," Faris said.  
"She keeps _saying_ that," Reina whispered to the camera. "I'm worried."

"Biran and Yenke: friends from Mt. Gagazet here in the _Fantasy 10_ verse."  
Biran, a brown-skinned, yellow-haired Ronso, folded his arms beside Yenke, a blue-skinned brown-haired Ronso, who was doing the same. Behind them were the tall snow-covered peaks of Mt. Gagazet.  
"Biran watch show first season," Biran said. "Biran was surprised. Biran watch whole show and never see any brothers."  
"Whole show only have hornless goatlings," Yenke said. "No Ronso anywhere."  
"Not even little Kimahri," Biran added. "Biran was sure little Kimahri would be there with hornless humans."  
"Biran take Kimahri's horn. Biran have two horns! Two horns!"  
"Biran does not brag," Biran said. "Ronso have the biggest horn anyway. Little Kimahri barely a Ronso. Only has small broken horn."  
Yenke looked slightly to the right of the camera, then moved over to tap Biran on the shoulder. "Biran. Hornless man with camera want us to talk about not Kimahri."  
"Hornless cameraman is only jealous. He not have horn like Ronso."  
"Hornless! Hornless!" Yenke taunted.  
"Biran and Yenke will win hornless game. Show whole world that Ronso are better than hornless humans."

"Dona and Barthello: summoner and guardian from Kilika here in the _Fantasy 10_ verse."  
Dona, a darker-skinned woman wearing a complicated and revealing outfit of several colors, stood beside Barthello, a large muscular man with a flat head and haircut, wearing a pair of colorful pants and a cross of leather straps across his bare chest. Behind them was a small town composed of many straw houses.  
"It was horrible watching last season," Dona explained. " _High_ Summoner Yuna couldn't even win this stupid race, yet she was able to _barely_ defeat Sin. I always knew that if I hadn't given up my pilgrimage I could have defeated Sin, and although I can't prove it, I'll prove that at the very least I can win the race she failed to win. Right, Barthello?"  
"But High Summoner Yu-" Barthello started. He stopped when he felt Dona's hand caressing his shoulder. "Yes. We will win."  
"Good boy," Dona said to Barthello. She looked back to the camera. "There's nobody that can stop us. We have a bond like no other. Both of us were prepared to give our lives for the other. Both of us are strong. He has the muscles, I have the rest." Dona began eyeing Barthello up. "Mmm, and if I ever wanted the muscles, I could have those too."  
"I think the camera is still on," Barthello said to Dona.  
"That's okay with me," Dona said.  
"We're sure to win," Barthello addressed the camera. "Can you leave now, please?"  
"Oh get over yourself, Barthello," Dona said. She lightly pushed Barthello away and walked off screen.

"Zone and Watts: resistance fighters from Timber in the _Fantasy 8_ verse."  
Watts, a young man wearing a blue cap and a yellow vest over a white t-shirt, pulled Zone, a young man with black hair and a loose-fitting blue outfit, to his feet from his former crouching position. A yellow train with a decal of a skull with "RAIDERS" written above it slid to a noisy stop behind them.  
"This will be quite the challenge," Watts said. "But as a Forest Owl, I'm prepared for anything."  
"As am I," Zone said, clutching his stomach but still standing to face the camera. "Well, not quite _as_ prepared, but prepared nonetheless."  
"We don't have the physical edge over most of the teams I'm sure, but we definitely have the brains. We'll plan the crap out of this race and win it with strategy, much like how the previous winners won."  
"We've analyzed all the footage from last round and found all the elements that led to their victory as well as every team's individual wins."  
"We'll be watching all the other teams and taking notes," Watts said. "We'll exploit weaknesses and do all that we can to walk away with a million gil."

"Cecil and Rosa Farrell-Harvey: married couple from Baron in the _Fantasy 4_ verse."  
Cecil, a man with long silver hair wearing decorated armor, stood with his arm around Rosa, a woman with a blonde ponytail wearing long white clothes complete with a white cape. The two stood on a tall castle ledge overlooking an ocean.  
"Rosa has been a wonderful companion and wife," Cecil said. "She has stood beside me though all sorts of ordeals and changes and I could not see doing this race with anybody else. _Except maybe Kain._ "  
"I anticipate a win out of this race because we are so strong and compatible," Rosa said. "He has the strength and the willpower to go on, whereas I have the mental strength and the heart to keep us balanced."  
"I have always counted on my friends. With Rosa I foresee a victory and possibly a few new friends at the end. And nobody else could help me achieve such a victory. _With Kain we could have made them beg before declaring the win as our own._ "  
"Cecil, honey, please," Rosa said. She pulled a small compact out of her shirt pocket and opened it, pointing the mirror at Cecil. "I see a bit of darkness reflecting. Remember your training."  
Cecil stared at the mirror for a minute, then looked back at Rosa. "Sorry, sweetie. Cameras make me so nervous."  
Rosa put away the compact and looked at the camera. "Again, with me to keep him under control, we should have no problems riding this to victory."  
"Kain cou-"  
"Kain couldn't do crap!" Rosa yelled at Cecil. She regained her composure immediately dusted her clothes off and smiled prettily for the camera.

"Barret Wallace and Dyne: friends and fathers from Corel in the _Fantasy 7_ verse."  
Barret, a large, muscular black man with tattoos and a large gun grafted where his right hand should be, sat beside dyne, a large, muscular white man with purple hair and a gun grafted where his left hand should be. They sat on the edge of a rusty platform in the middle of a rundown area. Tents littered the background.  
"Me 'n Dyne go way back," Barret explained. "Ever since we were kids. We grew up together an' stuff, lived in this godforsaken town. Then all dis crap went from bad to horrible an' long story short, I ended up raisin' Dyne's girl, Marlene, when Dyne went all crazy and sh-"  
"Don't make me out to be that crazy," Dyne said.  
"You wanted to kill Marlene so she could keep yo' dead wife company."  
"She was lonely," Dyne whimpered.  
"Look," Barret pointed at the camera and stood up. "Me 'n Dyne, we gonna win. We'll do whatever it takes to win this money so little Marlene can have a good life. Skinny-punk Cloud kept usin' all of Marlene's college money, and we gettin' that money back."  
"Word," Dyne said.  
"Shu'up, Dyne," Barret said, kicking him in the leg.

"Ma and Zell Dincht: mother and son from Balamb in the _Fantasy 8_ verse."  
Zell, a spiky haired blond with large jean shorts and a black and red jacket, stood center-screen doing martial arts in the air. He stood in the middle of a small house. He punched the air and suddenly stopped when Ma, an older woman with brown hair wearing a dress and an apron, grabbed his shoulder.  
"Zell, what did I say about martial arts in the house?" Ma asked.  
"Sorry, Ma," Zell said. "I was just showing them my moves so they know what we're bringin' to the party. A force to be reckoned with! I'll put Seifer in his place and show him and the entire world that _he_ is the chicken-wuss. He wouldn't even come on the show and-"  
"Zell, you're babbling again," Ma said. She looked at the camera and shoved Zell aside, almost out of frame. "My adopted son, Zell, has everything it takes to win this race, but he needs some discipline, so he brought his mother along."  
"Or because none of my friends wanted to race," Zell mumbled.  
"What'd I tell you about being smart?" Ma asked.  
"I won't be?"  
"But what else?"  
"Don't let my dumb mouth get us into trouble?" Zell said.  
"That's right," Ma responded.

"Fran and Ffamran "Balthier" Mid Bunansa: friends and fellow sky pirates from Eruyt Village and Archadia in the _Fantasy 12_ verse."  
Balthier, an elegantly dressed man with short blonde hair, relaxed against a rock. Fran, a seductive bunny-eared creature known as a Viera, wearing a revealing black outfit, climbed the rock Balthier leaned against and finally sat atop the rock with one leg hanging down by Balthier.  
"You're trying to upstage me with a single leg," Balthier said to Fran.  
"It's impossible to do such a thing, is it not?" Fran asked. "Upstaging the leading man?"  
"Impossible, yes, but still, your attempt is still present."  
"We have nothing to say," Fran said to the camera. "We cannot lose and look forward to the journey."  
"I hope there is a team or possible two that actually give us a run for our money. Or at least a jog for it. Though I don't exactly mind easy money."  
"I do this for my sisters in my village. We cannot leave the Eruyt area, and I have been outcast for doing exactly that. I hope to show them my strength and give them strength to realize that the outside world should not be foreign to us, nor should we be punished for leaving."  
"I'm doing it more for the money," Balthier added.  
"As am I. If my village does not accept me back, then I'll just have to live in luxury in the outside world."  
"Sounds horribly dreadful," Balthier said.

The twelve teams disembarked from their sand gliders and walked to form a quarter arc behind Gippal. On the other side of Gippal were twenty-four backpacks, every other pack had a yellow and black _Amazing Final Fantasy_ clue resting on top of it.  
Gippal faced the camera with the racers behind him. "Can these teams stand up to the pressure of traveling for countless miles together? And who will come up with the right combination of strength, speed, intelligence, and teamwork to win the one million gil prize? These are the questions waiting to be answered as we get ready to begin: _The Amazing Final Fantasy Race_." He turned to face the racers. "Welcome everybody. In just a few minutes you'll be leaving on a race around worlds. Now there are eleven legs in this race. At the end of each race there is a pit stop. Nine of these pit stops are elimination points, so you need to get to each of them fast because if you are last, you will be eliminated. Now your first clue is waiting on top of the packs you brought with you. When I give you the word, you can run over to your bags, read your clue, and take off to the next destination in the speeders we've provided. The first team to cross the finish line after eleven legs will win the one million gil. Is everybody ready?"  
"Yes!" Ma shouted. She looked to her son, Zell, who was red in the face, but still smiled to support her.  
"It's still better than last time," Gippal said. "The worlds are waiting for you. Good luck. Travel safe..." he raised his hand into the air and scanned the teams with his eyes. He then thrust his hand down and shouted "Go!"  
The twelve teams all ran frantically to their packs, though some fell short as others sprinted on ahead. Zell tried to make a quick move for the front of the pack, only to have his gap closed by Biran and Yenke, who ran past him like large angry trucks.  
"Pitiful human," Biran said loudly to Yenke. "He even thinks he has horn."  
"Hair horn!" Yenke shouted at Zell. "Pitiful fake human horn made of hair. Ronso horns made of marrow!"

"Not already," Watts said.  
"Sorry," Zone said. He clutched his stomach and crawled along the ground toward the packs.  
"I thought we trained for this." Watts grabbed Zone by the arm and pulled him to his feet. "At least this part is fairly unimportant. Just get to the speeder and I'll take it from there."

Freya and Fratley were the first complete team to reach their clue. Freya grabbed the clue and ripped it open.  
"Fly to Midgar using one of three flights at the Home Spaceport," Freya read.  
"I'll drive," Fratley said. He hopped on the front of the closest speeder, which was basically an ATV built for two, but instead of wheels is moved by sliding on skis and propelling itself by a large exhaust jet in the back.

"I really get to drive this thing?" Reno said. He hopped onto the speeder and clutched the controls.  
Rude slid onto the back and looked around for anything to hold onto, but seeing as Reno's waist was his only option, he opted to pinch his legs tighter on the speeder's body and sit up. "I'd rather not get bugs in my face."  
"Sweet, then here we go," Reno shouted. He pulled his sunglasses down and fired up the speeder. He jumped on the accelerator, but quickly switched to the brakes as he was cut off by another speeder.

"Woo!" Celes shouted. Her speeder shot across the sand while Cid behind her battled her hair that flapped in his face.  
"I think you nearly hit somebody," Cid said, just prior to getting a mouthful of hair.  
"What?" Celes shouted back to Cid. "I can't hear you. These things are so noisy. Not as noisy as that Magitek Armor, but still very noisy."  
"I had nothing to do with the crummy suits themselves," Cid said with a laugh.  
"What?"

"Horrible machina," Dona said as she revved up the speeder. "Why do we have to use this heathen contraption anyway? It _completely_ eliminates one of our advantages."  
Barthello sat behind Dona on the speeder and looked for something to hold onto. "I think they always use machina at first." Barthello finally gave up his search for any handles and he hesitantly reached forward and gently clutched Dona's waist.  
Dona sighed. "Barthello, please. If you're going to do it then just do it." Dona put her hands on top of Barthello's and forced his fingers to clasp her tighter. "Now let's go."

"Fly to Midgar," Barret read. "Should be a good advantage when we get there."  
"Better advantage than somehow getting stuck behind that large woman while running to our packs," Dyne said.  
"Don' worry. We'll still get da best flight an' keep da lead."  
Barret and Dyne tossed their packs on their speeder and boarded it with Barret as the driver. He looked at the controls, which were entirely hand controls with the accelerator on one side and the brakes on the other.  
"Yo, Dyne?" Barret said. "I got a little hand brake, but I think I got a problem."  
"What is it?" Dyne asked.  
"I can accelerate, but I can't brake. Not sure if I can drive dis."  
"Wait, brakes? Mr. Wallace I'm disappointed."  
"You right, Dyne. Sit the hell down!" Barret fired up his speeder and pulled violently on the accelerator.

"Goodness," Brahne said as she watched Barret and Dyne drive off.  
"Something wrong?" Garnet asked. She picked up both packs and handed one to Brahne.  
"Thank you, dearie," Brahne said. "I'm so sorry if I've been caught up in the moment, but those two have stolen your mother's heart."  
"Not this again," Garnet said. "You're always claiming you've just met the love of your life."  
"Never like this, sweetie," Brahne said. Garnet mouthed the words along with Brahne. "I vow to make them mine. All mine."  
"Okay, let's do that by catching up to them first. You drive, mother."  
"Such a sweet girl," Brahne said. "Who taught you to be so sweet?"  
"Maybe Doctor To-"  
"Now now, don't go and flatter your mother," Brahne said.  
"I wasn-"  
" _Enough_!" Brahne shouted. She coughed lightly and sat lightly on the speeder. "I mean, enough flattery, dearie. Your mother can only take so much love."

Faris and Reina drove their speeder along several hills of sand. Reina clutched Faris tightly as they both squinted into the bright desert in search of Home.  
"Lady Sand, yer no ocean, but equally deceiving," Faris muttered.  
"We can do it!" Reina encouraged her sister. "We just need to keep following the N on the compass, right?"  
"Yar."  
"Well we're doing fine then," Reina said. "I'm being sure to twist this compass top and put the N on the tip of the needle everytime it moves!"  
Faris twisted the brakes hard and turned quickly back to look at Reina. "What tales ye be tellin' me?"  
"I'm doing fine," Reina said. "See?" She twisted the top of the compass, putting the big red 'N' on the tip of the needle.  
Faris grabbed the compass away from Reina and pulled it in front of her. "By Neptune's trident... Navigation is not meant for a princess. Castle walls c'nnot teach these things."  
"I'm sorry," Reina said with a quivering lip. "I didn't-"  
"Show the waves beneath no sorrow," Faris said. She wiped a tear from Reina's cheek. "The compass be an important tool. I'll teach you its ways at our next stop. No more blubbering over lost direction. Yer aside the greatest navigator the world has ever seen!"  
Reina hugged her sister tightly. "Thank you."

"Zell?" Ma said as she clutched her son tightly. She rode as the passenger on their speeder.  
"Yeah, Ma?" Zell said.  
"Is this what your missions were like? Your SeeD missions. Did you do things like this?"  
"Sometimes," Zell responded. "Why?"  
"It's fun! I'm wishing I'd signed up. I _would've_ signed up if I knew this is what you did."  
"There's also fighting and killing involved."  
"Rats," Ma said. She looked into the distance to her left and saw another speeder racing in the same direction. "Can we beat them?"  
"I think so."  
"Good. Let's do it. Hit it, Zelly!"  
"I- umm, Ma? Can you keep it at just 'Zell'? People are watching. People I know."  
"People I know too," Ma said. "So gun it! I don't want them to see me lose!"  
"Right!" Zell said, pulling the accelerator harder.

Cecil and Rosa sped toward Home, which barely started to appear over the waves of sand ahead of them. Cecil drove with Rosa clutched tightly to him.  
"There's another team to our right," Rosa pointed out. "I think that means we're going the right way."  
"That's good news," Cecil said. "I just hope we beat them to this Home place."  
"It's not the point to worry about that now," Rosa said. "Let's just get there and get our tickets and hope for the best."  
"You're right," Cecil said. He looked to his right again, then did a double-take. "Did they just speed up?"  
"They- umm, no. Maybe. I'm not sure. These heat waves make things look like illusions. Let's just get there and-"  
"They _did_!" Cecil shouted. "They're racing us!"  
"We _are_ in a race- err, but Cecil, don't do this. Don't race them. We'll get there safely and-"  
" _We can beat them_ ," Cecil said. He leaned in on the handles, his body shaped like a cat ready to pounce.  
"Oh God, Cecil," Rosa muttered. "Just be safe, okay?"  
" _Whatever._ "  
Home began to come more and more into focus as Cecil eased the speeder not only toward Home, but also closer to the Dincht speeder to their right. He was almost within shouting distance of them, when suddenly he noticed two speeders already parked in front of the Home entrance.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place]  
"The ride was a bit bumpy, but hardly worth complaining when you're in first," Balthier said. "Gives a whole new meaning to 'leading man', wouldn't you say?"  
"Not for too long," Fran said. She folded her arms and stared at the other team joining them for a first place tie.  
"Ridden our coattails long enough, wouldn't you say?" Balthier said to the other team.  
"I wouldn't say that," Watts responded. "You were following us the whole way. You just gave it a little extra in the end."  
"And that'll be what sets us apart I imagine," Balthier said. "Feel free to fall just behind us the whole race."  
Fran waited for a response from Watts, but finally turned her attention to Zone, who was hunched over on the ground. "Is he okay?"  
"He does this," Watts said. He looked at Zone. "Stomach pains again?"  
"Stomach?" Zone asked. "Oh. Right. Yeah. Sure." He glanced at Fran's legs and followed them up her body. "So pretty."  
Balthier glanced into the distance. "Hate to break up our conversation, but four's already a crowd, so another four cannot be good at all." He looked to Fran and started to hop toward the entrance. "Frannie, if you would be so kind as to join me. We've antagonized our runners-up long enough."  
Fran nodded and jogged to catch up to Balthier. The two entered Home and began looking for the nearest ticket desk.


	2. Episode 1, Part 2

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place]  
Fran and Balthier ran inside the Home Spaceport and took only a split second to admire the scenery. It was a large room made mostly of marble tiles and steel. It gave off a warm and cozy feeling if you admired it. Clean marble floors, large digital flight record monitors, and finely crafted ticket counters manned by strange Al Bhed people with a swarm of technologically advanced computers. But in looking up there was a sudden fear for one's life at the steel beams holding bright unidirectional lights, ventilation ducts, and a slew of thousands of unbound wires swinging forty feet above the people below.  
"Well then, what airline?" Balthier asked Fran.  
"There are three flights available to us," Fran said. She read through the clue. "The first on the list to depart is Rusa Flights. I suggest we start there."  
"Sounds like a solid plan," Balthier said. He started to jog into the open room while zigzagging through the crowded spaceport when he took a quick look back behind Fran. "Looks like we've got company."  
"I would not think those two to give us a large advantage," Fran said.  
"Not just two," Balthier trailed off.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 2nd Place]  
[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in 3rd Place]  
[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 4th Place]  
The six people entered the spaceport in a large cluster. Zone and Watts were in front. Behind them were Zell and Cecil, who were in each others' faces, and Rosa and Ma, who followed their respective teammate quietly. Both Ma and Rosa tried to tug their partners back from the other.  
"You could've killed us you crazy jerk!" Zell yelled at Cecil.  
" _It's a race and you were in my way!_ " Cecil yelled back.  
"I wasn't in your way, I beat you to that parking spot. It's different!"  
Ma successfully pulled Zell back a few feet from Cecil. Zell calmed down a bit as Ma relaxed her grip on his wrist. "Cool the testosterone jets," Ma said to Zell.  
" _You should know better than to be in my way,_ " Cecil yelled. He started to pursue Zell again, when Rosa pulled his arm and opened her makeup compact. She faced the mirror at Cecil's face.  
"Come on, Ceese," Rosa said softly. "Just remember. Remember how you're never driving another thing in this race. Road rage apparently brings out the worst in you."  
Cecil stared at the mirror. " _Hate_... _Other racer_...Love... Wife..." He looked up at Rosa. "Sorry, dear. I'll try to be more careful about instigating conflict." Cecil walked to Zell and extended his hand for a handshake. "My apologies."  
"No problem," Zell said, quickly accepting the handshake. "I know some people that would do what you did and _not_ apologize."  
Ma looked to Rosa and saw a quick opportunity for female bonding and gossip. "Sorry about my Zelly," Ma said to Rosa.  
"Not as sorry as I am about my Cecil," Rosa replied.  
"Boys will be boys," Ma said. She motioned to Zell. "This is Zell, and I'm his mother. Everybody just calls me 'Ma'."  
"Rosa," Rosa said, shaking Ma's hand. "And Cecil, like I said all of like, five seconds ago."  
"What do you say we team up?" Ma asked Rosa and Cecil. "Just in this spaceport here. We could certainly use an extra pair of eyes and-" Ma looked back at Zell, then moved close to Rosa's ear. "I'm not sure our men will help much in here. We girls need to plan these flights or we'll end up _running_ to new galaxies."  
Rosa nodded. The two women grabbed their respective male partner and the four headed to find a ticket counter.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 5th Place]  
Reno and Rude strolled casually into the spaceport and began to look for a ticket counter.  
"This place is nice," Reno mentioned.  
Rude grunted in agreement.  
"So the clue says we have three flights available: Rusa Flights, leaving at 10:00am, Spira Space, leaving also at 10:00am, and another Spira Space leaving at 11:00am. I'm guessing that last one's the pits."  
Rude nodded. "Let's try Spira Space anyway."  
Rude straightened his coat and Reno ran his hand through his hair, then the two walked to the counter with 'Spira Space' engraved in large letters. The line was short and within seconds, the two were called to an available assistant.  
"Hey," Reno said to the Al Bhed woman behind the counter. He leaned in closer to the woman. His elbow supported his weight against the counter. "We need two of the best tickets available to Midgar, y'know."  
"Okay, we'll put you two on this flight then," the woman said.  
"Is it a good flight?" Reno asked.  
"Oh the _best_!" she said enthusiastically.  
"Then book us, baby."  
"You got it!"  
[Reno & Rude: 1st on Spira Space #1]

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 6th Place]  
Freya and Fratley jogged side-by-side into the spaceport and quickly ran for the Rusa Flights counter. They got into line directly behind Fran and Balthier, who were next in line.  
"Is this the best flight?" Freya asked Fran and Balthier.  
"It's the first flight we're checking," Balthier said to her. "I'm afraid that's all the information I will give you about the race though. Sorry."  
"I can honor that," Freya said. She and Fratley waited patiently as Fran and Balthier approached the counter.  
Balthier stepped aside and allowed Fran to pass, then followed her to the available ticket lady.  
"We need to get to Midgar," Fran said. "Is this flight better than the two Spira Space flights?"  
"I like to think so," the lady responded.  
"I believe we have a language barrier between us," Balthier said. He approached the counter and stood to the left of Fran. "Does your 10:00am flight arrive before the Spira Space flights at 10:00am and 11:00am?"  
"Oh, let me check," she said. She began typing quickly and cross-referencing the three flights.

Meanwhile, Freya and Fratley were called to the next available ticket man. Freya and Fratley approached the counter hand-in-hand.  
"Good morning," Freya said to the man.  
"Yes, good morning," Fratley said. "We need two tickets to Midgar if you please. Are these tickets good?"  
"Better than the other two flights to Midgar?" Freya added.  
"Let me check," the man said. He began typing, then looked down at the result. "Rusa Flights arrives 11:30am, Spira Space arrives 12:00pm, and the Spira Space leaving an hour after arrives 12:30pm."  
"Perfect," Freya said. "We would like two tickets on your flight then."  
"Good job, m'lady," Fratley said.  
"Thank you," Freya said. She leaned close to Fratley. "You know, you _used_ to give me a kiss on the cheek in moments like these."  
"Oh, of course," Fratley said. He kissed Freya's cheek. "Good?"  
"Wonderful."

Fran and Balthier each took a ticket from the lady and thanked her. They walked away from the ticket counter with their tickets on Rusa Flights.  
[Fran & Balthier: 1st on Rusa Flights]  
[Freya & Fratley: 2nd on Rusa Flights]  
"Fran?" Balthier asked. "Do you feel like getting a little dirty for this leg of the race?"  
"I have no qualms about it," Fran responded. "What did you have in mind?"  
"I've observed that there are several teams that would make poor competition for us. If they were in this first flight with us, we would have a better chance at a first place victory here."  
"I know just the pair to put on our flight," Fran said.  
"You get the boys, I'll look for more to put on our flight."

Zone and Watts stood in the long line for Spira Space and looked at the entrance, where three more teams entered the spaceport. They looked to each other for a plan, but both were coming up blank.  
"Maybe if we get them all in line behind us," Watts suggested.  
"Well by using this spaceline, we have a two-thirds chance that they will have the best flights," Zone said. "They have two of the three flights available to us, so it's the best odds."  
"Get out of line," Fran said to Zone and Watts.  
"Pardon?" Watts asked.  
"Oh god," Zone said, crouching to his stomach-ache position. "It's you."  
"Rusa has the best flights by a half-hour," Fran informed them.  
"I think she's telling the truth," Watts said. "Let's hurry before those other teams see us."  
"But, I- I can't run," Zone said. "My umm, condition."  
Watts sighed. He looked at Fran. "Bunny-lady? Would you mind leaving us alone to run to Rusa? My friend is- Well I'd rather not say."  
"Sure," Fran said. She trotted away to find Balthier.  
"Come on," Watts said to Zone.  
"Give me another minute," Zone said.  
"We don't _have_ another minute," Watts said. "Just... Just follow close behind me and people won't notice. J-Just not _too_ close."  
"Okay," Zone said. He got to his feet and stuck close to Watts.

[Celes & Cid: Subject/Researcher, Currently in 7th Place]  
[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 8th Place]  
[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 9th Place]  
Celes and Cid ran into the spaceport. Celes ran flawlessly, while Cid ran a bit hunched over and breathing heavily.  
"We only ran maybe fifty meters," Celes said to Cid.  
"And I'm only fifty years older than you," Cid said. "I've done my fair share of fifty meter dashes in my days, but now I barely move fifty centimeters for the remote control."  
"If you're the brains, and I'm the brawn-"  
"And sex appeal," Cid added.  
"And sex appeal, then why aren't you already looking for flights, granddad?" Celes asked.  
"Because I've already found you a flight," Balthier said. He approached the three teams that had walked in. Fran followed closely behind him.  
"And we should trust you _why?_ " Dona asked.  
"Trust who you will, but I happen to already have tickets and there is another team that I'd much rather not be on my flight in the lead. You six, however, would make wonderful company."  
"He's lying," Dona said. "I know that Barthello and I would make horrible company. Do what you will, but we're searching on our own. Come, Barthello."  
"Yes ma'am," Barthello said. He followed Dona as the two headed for Spira Space.  
"What about you four?" Balthier asked.  
"Do we trust him?" Celes asked Cid.  
"You make the call," Cid responded. "I trust him, but I tend to trust the wrong people."  
"Okay, what flight?" Celes asked Balthier.  
"Rusa Flights," he said. He turned his attention to Garnet and Brahne, specifically to Garnet. " _Please_ tell me you'll be joining me as well."  
"What do you think, mother?" Garnet asked Brahne.  
"I don't trust him," Brahne said. "I never trust anybody as scrawny as him."  
"You're just waiting for those two big guys."  
"They're _certainly_ more dreamy than _he_ is," Brahne responded. "But you're a scrawny girl, so if _you_ want to go on his plane, then your dear mother will just suffer and pine for the loves of her life that couldn't be with her on the lonely flight."  
"Sorry, mother," Garnet said, "but I really do believe him. Let's hurry to Rusa Flights."  
"Good to hear it," Balthier said.

[Barret & Dyne: Fathers, Currently in 10th Place]  
Barret and Dyne walked in only moments after the group had left the entryway. They looked around the spaceport and finally found the line to Spira Space.  
"Looks like a lot've other teams is here," Barret said.  
"Let's get in line here then," Dyne said. "Even if the other one is fastest, it's probably full. Let's just ensure that we get on the middle flight."  
"Good idea," Barret said. "Fo' a crazy ass, you got some brains, Dyne."  
"I'm not crazy," Dyne said. "But thank you."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 11th Place]  
"Biran crappy driver," Yenke said as he followed Biran into the spaceport.  
"I like to see Yenke do better," Biran said. "I seen Yenke walk. Yenke not even good at that."  
"Yenke is tired of Biran. Yenke will get spaceplane and not talk to Biran until landing."  
"Biran is tired of Yenke. _Biran_ will get spaceplane and not talk to _Yenke_ until landing!"  
The two Ronso stormed off to find a flight. Unfortunately, they both happened across the same flight, Spira Space, and waited side-by-side in the long line.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in Last Place]  
Reina and Faris entered the spaceport and quickly jogged to the Spira Space line that was toward the front.  
"Sorry for getting us lost," Reina said.  
"Arr, it's okay," Faris said.  
"You think we'll lose because of it?"  
"Ne'er think of th' failure," Faris said. "Just think of the victory, and if things be looking grim, then think of the backstabbing that we must attempt fer our benefit."  
"I'm going to hope it doesn't come to that," Reina said.

Zone and Watts, Cecil and Rosa, Ma and Zell, Celes and Cid, and Garnet and Brahne waited in line at Rusa Flights in that order. Zone and Watts approached the counter and received their tickets.  
[Zone & Watts: 3rd on Rusa Flights]

Cecil and Rosa were next to the counter. They spoke to the lady and received their tickets.  
[Cecil & Rosa: 4th on Rusa Flights]

Ma and Zell and Celes and Cid approached two different ticket people, with Ma and Zell reaching their person slightly faster.  
"We'd like two tickets please," Ma said to the man behind the counter.

"Excuse me," Celes said. "Which flight is faster? This or Spira Space? To Midgar."  
The man typed into his computer, then looked up at Celes. "We are."  
"So they weren't lying," Celes said. "We'd like two tickets please."  
"Just a moment," the man said.

"Thank you," Ma said to the man as she took the tickets for Zell and herself.  
[Ma & Zell: 5th on Rusa Flights]

"I'm sorry," the man said to Celes. "We're out of seats."  
"What!?" Celes responded. She looked to Cid behind her. "We've gotta get to the other line. _Fast._ "  
Cid and Celes walked casually away from the counter, but when Garnet and Brahne noticed they did not have tickets, they started to stir in the line.  
"Hurry!" Celes said to Cid. The two ran to the Spira Space line, quickly followed by Garnet and Brahne.  
"I told you we couldn't trust them!" Brahne screamed as she pushed through the line. Garnet ducked under the belts that outlined the line to the counter and ran to Spira Space. Brahne attempted to duck under it, but fell well short of going under it and instead went directly through it. The posts holding the belts began to slide and soon they lifted off the ground as they flailed behind the quick-moving Brahne. The people in the line yelled in protest as the posts nearly hit them.

"Thanks," Dona said as she took the tickets.  
[Dona & Barthello: 2nd on Spira Space #1]

Barret took the tickets, when suddenly Dyne tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to Celes, Cid, Garnet, and Brahne with a slew of line poles following behind her. Dyne held his hand behind his back with his palm up. Barret low-fived him.  
[Barret & Dyne: 3rd on Spira Space #1]

"Biran bad, _horrible_ driver," Yenke said as he took his tickets. "Make Yenke on last flight."  
"Biran sorry," Biran said. "Biran not know how to drive Al Bhed machina machine."  
"It not Biran's fault," Yenke said. "Yenke would do poorly too. Yenke sorry for getting angry with Biran. We Ronso. We stick together. We not let hornless space travel come between us."  
[Biran & Yenke: 1st on Spira Space #2]

The remaining three teams all took their tickets on Spira Space #2 and headed to the boarding area for the spaceplanes.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"All teams are now making their way to Midgar on one of three flights. The first flight, arriving thirty minutes before the second, carries Fran and Balthier, Freya and Fratley, Zone and Watts, Cecil and Rosa, and Ma and Zell. On the second flight, arriving thirty minutes before the last, are: Reno and Rude, Dona and Barthello, and Barret and Dyne. On the last flight are Biran and Yenke, Reina and Faris, Cid and Celes, and Garnet and Brahne."

[Rusa Flights Landing: 11:30am]

The five teams on Rusa Flights quickly disembarked and waited for their luggage to be dropped into baggage claim. The first team to receive their backpacks was Freya and Fratley, who quickly ran outside the new Midgar spaceport and coughed.  
Outside the spaceport it was very dark for 11:30 in the morning. Pollution rose out of giant reactors and blackened the sky. The spaceport was in good condition, but the rest of the area was not. There were some cars driving on the roads, but most people walked, and of those people, maybe one of them showered that day.  
The clue box across the street by a building stood out like a sore thumb. The dull grays and blacks gave a bland backdrop to the bright red and yellow and green of the clue box.  
Freya and Fratley ran across the street and opened the clue box. Freya pulled out the clue and read it aloud.  
"Take the train to Shin-Ra Headquarters," she read.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now make their way by train to the center of Midgar: Shin-Ra Inc. Headquarters. The trains are sleazy and teams will have to watch their wallets while riding. Once at the entrance to Shin-Ra Headquarters, they will find their next clue."

"Let's go," Freya said.  
"Where?" Fratley asked. "We don't know where we are."  
"Then let's use our talents to figure it out," Freya said. She crouched down and prepared to jump up the side of the tall building beside them, but stopped and looked at Fratley. "You'd let me, the woman do the hard work?"  
"Should I?" Fratley asked.  
"Well, you never used to," Freya said. She crouched down again, when Fratley broke her concentration.  
"Okay okay okay," Fratley said. He quickly bent down, then sprung up into the air. He only went about fifteen feet up and grabbed a window sill. He put his foot in the window and began to scan the city. He finally saw a train station in the distance. He pointed toward it. "That way!"  
"Wonderful," Freya said happily.  
Fratley hopped down and joined Freya and running toward the station.

"There we are," Balthier said. He pointed at the clue box across the street. He and Fran ran for the box and read through the clue.  
"Where's the train?" Fran asked.  
"I suppose we'll have to ask one of these locals," Balthier said. Suddenly a loud noise sounded in the distance: a train's horn.  
"Never mind then," Balthier said. He and Fran started running in the direction of the train's horn.

Ma and Zell and Zone and Watts all exited the spaceport at the same time. Zone spotted the clue box and pointed to it.  
"Thanks for the tip," Zell said to Zone as all four people ran to the box.  
"Just pay us back sometime, okay?" Zone said to Zell.  
"We'll see. I already helped you with all that business back on our world," Zell teased.  
Zone grinned and followed his partner to the clue box. Watts and Ma grabbed their clues.  
"To Shin-Ra Headquarters by train," Ma said.  
"Sweet, trains!" Zone said.  
"Crap, trains," Zell said.

Cecil and Rosa made their way to the clue box just as soon as the other four had left. Rosa pulled the clue out and quickly led Cecil to the train station by following the other two teams.

"Fifty gil," the ticket taker at the train station said to Freya and Fratley.  
"How much did we get for this leg?" Freya asked Fratley.  
"Plenty," he responded. "It looks like about six hundred gil."  
Fratley handed freya fifty gil to pay the ticket man and headed to the edge of the platform. The station was old, though it looked like it had received some recent modifications. The ticket booth was fairly shiny and had a virtually undamaged "Sector 7 Station" sign above it. The train station also had some shiny new graffiti all over, including the floors and train tracks themselves.  
Fratley looked into the sky at the Shin-Ra Headquarters building. Freya joined him in sitting on the edge of the train station platform. The station seemed to have a lack of security and safety procedures, such as not approaching the platform until the train had arrived. Some kids played on the tracks themselves, then scattered when they heard the train's horn blaring.  
"Too bad we had to wait for this," Fratley said. "I'm sure we could've climbed to the top faster than it would take this train to get us there."  
"It's okay," Freya said. She rose to her feet as Fratley did the same. "I'd rather do this race without exploiting our extra abilities too much anyway."  
"It's your nobility that always attracted me to you, right?" Fratley asked.  
"Among other things," she teased back.  
The train pulled into the station and the two rats walked onto the second car.

"Just in time," Balthier said. He handed fifty gil to the ticket taker, who promptly gave him the two tickets in return.  
"I guess so," the ticket man responded. "Trains come and go all the time. Miss this and you'd only be missing out on maybe five or ten minutes."  
"Those are minutes we do not have," Balthier said. He waved to the ticket man. "Thanks for your help," he said as he turned to Fran and walked with her to the train. They boarded the second train and found Freya and Fratley sitting on one side of a four person table on the side. The train itself was very rundown and the passengers all looked shady, though there were not many passengers on this particular train.  
"Mind if we join you?" Balthier asked Freya and Fratley.  
"Not at all," Freya said with a gesture to the seats across from them.  
Balthier and Fran slid into the seats and put their backpacks between themselves and the wall, mimicking what Freya and Fratley had done with theirs.  
"Good to meet our competition face-to-face," Fratley said.  
"I was thinking the same," Balthier responded. "You can call me Balthier, and this lovely bunny is Fran."  
"Pleasure," Fran said, extending her hand to shake Freya's hand, then Fratley's.  
"I am Sir Fratley, and this is Lady Freya," Fratley said.  
"It'll be a pleasure racing with you," Freya added.  
"Have we any competition to this Shin-Ra place?" Balthier asked. "Did other teams get onboard prior to ourselves?"  
"I believe that's them," Fratley said. He pointed out the window at the three teams at the ticket window. Zone and Watts were talking to the ticket man. Just then, the train doors closed and the train disembarked the station. The six people remaining on the platform all watched as the train slipped away.  
"So then, what type of refreshments does this train serve?" Balthier asked sarcastically.

[Spira Space #1 Landing: 12:00pm]

Reno and Rude, Dona and Barthello, and Barret and Dyne ran through the spaceport and all quickly found their baggage. All three teams raced outside and ran to the clue box in a dead heat. Upon reaching the box, the six people all began to push and shove to be the first to grab their clue, which resulted in several clues falling onto the ground.  
Barthello and Rude began picking up the unused clues and putting them in the box as their teammates ripped open their clues.  
"Does _anybody_ know their way around here?" Dona asked. "I have no idea how to find a train station in such a wasteland."  
"I know where it is," Barret said. "Don' suppose you gonna help us out if we help you out."  
"We don't need help, y'know," Reno said. "Been here many times before. Rude, let's go."  
Rude nodded and ran with Reno. Dona and Barthello quickly picked up their backpacks and followed the two men in suits. Reno and Rude rounded a corner and went down a narrow alley between two tall, vacant buildings.  
Dona and Barthello rounded the corner, only to be faced with a Turks disappearing act. They stared at the puddles of an empty alleyway.  
"Barthello! Where are they?" Dona asked; her tone sharp and demanding.  
"I did not see," Barthello groaned. He looked at the two buildings on either side of him. Both had doors with no locks. In fact, they had holes where the doorknobs should be. Barthello opened up the left door, only to see darkness inside and possibly a rat in the corner. He closed the door and checked the right building's door. Again, only darkness and two rats.  
"I guess we'll follow those giants," Dona said, referring to Barret and Dyne, who had the same approximate stature as Barthello.  
Dona and Barthello ran back to the clue box, only to find that Barret and Dyne had left.  
"Drat," Dona mumbled. "This is not good."

[Barret & Dyne: Fathers, Currently in 6th Place]  
Barret and Dyne ran through a giant open area with some children's playground equipment.  
"Yo Dyne," Barret said between breaths. "You have any idea where those Turks was goin'?"  
"The wrong way I'm assuming," Dyne said. "You sure this is the right way?"  
"Don' question my directions! I know this is right."  
"Well then those Turks were going the right way apparently," Dyne said.  
Barret stopped running and turned to Dyne. " _Whatchu say!?_ " he said angrily.  
Dyne pointed into the sky behind them at some tall buildings, where Reno and Rude leapt from one window across to another building's window, one floor lower. They disappeared inside the new building, then came out on the side closer to Barret and Dyne and repeated their one floor down window leaping until they finally ran out of the last building's back door.  
"Hurry yo ass up, Dyne!" Barret said as he resumed his run for the train station, now closely followed by Reno and Rude.

Ma, Zell, Zone, Watts, Cecil, and Rosa all boarded the train bound for Shin-Ra Headquarters. They found a small car with only one other person in it. That person was bound and gagged and naked, lying on the floor. None of the six seemed to care too much.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 7th Place]  
Reno and Rude jogged a few steps out of the last building, then slowed to a stop and hunched over to catch their breath.  
"Why did we do that?" Rude asked.  
"It lead a team in the wrong direction," Reno said. "And even though it might've cost us _one_ position... It was pretty fun."  
"Yeah," Rude responded as he stood tall again. "We should catch up now."  
"Aww, never taking any breaks, are you?"  
Reno and Rude began chasing after Barret and Dyne in search of the Sector 7 train station.

Balthier and Fratley stood behind the unopened train doors while Fran and Freya stood behind them. The train eased to a stop and opened the doors, releasing the tigers that were the racers. They all four left civility at the door and pushed and shoved to get out, with Fran and her long legs miraculously being the first off the train. Balthier followed with Freya and Fratley at his heels. They reached the clue box and Fran grabbed the first clue, with Fratley's hand diving in only two seconds later.  
"Choose a vehicle, then drive yourselves to the chocobo farms," Fran read.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now choose a vehicle and drive to the chocobo farms. Inside Shin-Ra Headquarters are three vehicles: a truck, a car, and a motorcycle. The vehicles all have the same approximate top speed and acceleration, so their choice is solely based on personal preference. After choosing their vehicle, teams must get to the freeway by driving _up_ a flight of stairs to the second floor, then drive through an broken pane of glass. The freeway is a story below, so teams must conquer their fears and jam on the accelerator to proceed with the race."

"Wait, a drop?" Fratley asked.  
"I know," Freya said. "I'm not afraid of heights in the slightest, but from what I read about motor vehicles, that cannot be healthy for them."  
"Let's pick whichever vehicle has wings, eh?" Balthier said sarcastically to Fran. The pair again raced off a split second before Freya and Fratley. Fran and Balthier ran inside the large glass doors that made the Shin-Ra Headquarters entrance and directly in front of them was a selection of vehicles. Without giving it a second thought, they ran straight for the motorcycle with the sidecar. Balthier began eyeing up the motorcycle, when suddenly Fran threw her leg over the motorcycle and sat in the driver's seat.  
"Now wait just a minute," Balthier started.  
"The leading man always needs to be chauffeured," Fran teased. She carefully put her helmet on.  
"I knew you'd find a way to turn my title into a burden," Balthier said. He put on his helmet and sat in the sidecar. "Ready when you are."  
"I was born ready," she said. She fired up the motorcycle and followed a series of arrows that pointed them up a thick, circular staircase on the right side of the building.  
On the circular staircase on the left side of the building, Freya and Fratley drove a hot red convertible up the stairs, edging slightly ahead of Fran and Balthier. Freya drove the convertible and revved the engine upon reaching the top. She sped down a hallway and read sign after sign that read "Good luck" "Don't slow down" and "Happy landings". After the final sign there was a large red and yellow border around a hole where a large pane of glass should have been. Freya and Fratley suddenly gained a fear of heights as their car shot out the hole and flew to the freeway below. The car landed with little impact damage and shot down the highway. Seconds later, Fran and Balthier's motorcycle flew out of the same hole and also landed safely.  
"Maybe this race _won't_ be as boring as I thought," Balthier said.

Despite all the running through playgrounds and hopping through buildings to get away from each other, Barret, Dyne, Reno, and Rude all soon found themselves sitting at the train station together. Reno and Rude sat on a bench. Barret and Dyne sat on a bench directly across from Reno and Rude. They four sat without saying anything. Finally Reno broke the silence.  
"Hey," Reno said to Barret. "Long time no see."  
"Shu'up," Barret said. "I don' got nothin' to say to a Shin-Ra freak like you two. Yous jus' lettin' 'em destroy the planet 'n-"  
"Hey," Reno said to Dyne. "Who're you?"  
"Barret's planet-loving friend," Dyne said. "I was into the saving the planet thing _long_ before Barret was."  
"No you wasn't," Barret said to Dyne. "Yous jus' scared we was all gonna lose our jobs. Thas the only reason you didn' want the Corel reactor."  
"I cared about things!" Dyne argued. "I didn't want the reactor because I didn't want Marlene to grow a hand out of her forehead or something."  
"Marlene ain't the planet!"  
"She was _my_ planet!"  
"Well she's mine now!" Barret yelled.

As Barret and Dyne argued, Reno and Rude took the opportunity to leave the benches and make their way to the approaching train. The train slid to a halt and the doors slid open. Reno and Rude entered and simply leaned against the wall near the door. Barret and Dyne quickly grabbed their things and got onto the train. They sat on a bench on one side of the train.  
"Heh. Marlene sure would look funny with a hand on her forehead," Barret said.  
"She'd make a great shortstop," Dyne commented back.  
"Aww," Reno commented from the opposite wall. "Look at them all getting along now. Makes you feel all warm and cozy, don't it?"

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Ma and Zell were the first off the train. They grabbed their clue and ran inside Shin-Ra Headquarters with the other three teams on their heels. They hopped onto a motorcycle with Zell driving and Ma riding in the sidecar and took off up the stairs. They drove down the hallway and shot out of the building and onto the road. Ma finally opened her eyes when Zell was on the road.  
"This isn't new for you?" Ma asked her son.  
"Yes and no," he responded. "I mean, I've never done that, but things like it."

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in 4th Place]  
"Hit it, honey," Cecil said. "A bit faster or we'll never make it."  
"There's a chance of not making it!?" Rosa screamed. She pushed the pedal to the floor of their hot white convertible and they shot out the side of the building and landed on the freeway. She sighed.  
"You know, honey," she began. "There's a chance you'll never drive again. This is _fun_."  
Cecil smiled and slumped down in his seat to enjoy the ride.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 5th Place]  
Zone and Watts drove a large brown truck up the stairs and headed for the large hole in the window. Watts sat behind the steering wheel while Zone sat in the passenger seat- hunching over as best as he could with his seatbelt on. The truck shot out the window and landed safely below.

[Spira Space #2 Landing: 12:30pm]

Biran and Yenke were the first out of the airport and quickly found the clue box.  
"Tr- umm," Yenke started to read. Biran looked over his shoulder.  
"Train station," Biran finished. "Biran and Yenke going to train station."  
"Biran have all brains," Yenke said. "Yenke jealous."  
"Biran jealous of Yenke. Biran jealous of Yenke big horn. So tall horn."  
"But Biran have bigger horn," Yenke said.  
"Biran want _two_ horn, and Biran would be happy to have Yenke horn too."

Celes shrugged and snuck past Biran and Yenke during their strange Ronso bonding event to grab the clue. She and Cid started running in the direction of the train noises. Biran and Yenke finally did the same after a bit more horn talk.  
Garnet and Brahne took their clue and also ran with the group. Reina and Faris exited the airport in last, but quickly grabbed their clue and were able to sprint ahead of Brahne and Cid. The end result of all the chaos was all four last place teams arriving at the train station and getting their tickets for a train that had yet to depart. The entire group sat together and waited for the train.  
"Hi, I'm Reina," Reina announced to the group, which had been silent until then. "My sister is Faris. She's a pirate."  
"A pirate?" Celes asked. "That's interesting. You don't call yourself something other than pirate, do you? Like, treasure hunter or anything?"  
"Aye, pirate suits me well," Faris said. "Though booty scavenger also seems very fitting."  
"Nobody's called me that since..." Celes trailed off.  
"People _still_ call me that," Cid said jokingly.  
"Oh please, Granddad. Don't joke about that."  
"Oh I wouldn't mind if you said a few more words about it," Brahne chimed in. She winked at Cid.  
"Your taste in men is strange," Garnet said.  
"Well I know a certain daughter of mine who likes a man with a _tail_."  
"I keep telling you, it's not an evolutionary mistake!"  
"I'm still not sure about _that_ ," Brahne added. She glanced at the two Ronso. "Ooh, hello different species."  
"Oh gag," Garnet said.  
Celes put her hand on Garnet's knee. "I feel your pain."  
The train finally arrived and the four bottom teams boarded it.

[Barret & Dyne: Fathers, Currently in 6th Place]  
Barret drove himself and Dyne in their chosen blue truck. They went up the staircase opposite Reno and Rude, who were in a black convertible.  
"Sure is nice to see dis from the driver's seat dis time," Barret said. "Las' time I was in da trunk."  
"Must've been a hell of a bumpy ride," Dyne said.  
"Still will be. Hol' on."  
Barret and Dyne shot out the former window, quickly followed by the black convertible.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 7th Place]  
"Would've been more fun from a few more floors up," Reno said.  
"Or if it had a loop," Rude added.  
"For sure. Some upside-down action would've been cool too."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 8th Place]  
Dona and Barthello ran inside Shin-Ra Headquarters and chose a purple convertible. Dona drove them up the stairs and out onto the road. Barthello relaxed in the passenger's seat with his arm sprawled out across the tops of the seats and his feet up on the dash.  
"Lazy," Dona muttered to herself. " _You_ should be driving _me_ , you know."  
Barthello snapped up to a normal sitting position. "Sorry, Dona. Would you like to pull over and-"  
"Just be quiet, Barthello. And stop enjoying the ride so much."  
"Yes, ma'am."

The four teams bringing up the rear exited the train and grabbed their clues, then entered the Shin-Ra building. Celes and Cid found a large yellow truck, Biran and Yenke took a blue motorcycle, Garnet and Brahne took a large orange truck, and Reina and Faris took a pink convertible. The first up the stairs was the convertible.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 9th Place]  
"These cars are nice," Reina said from the passenger's seat. "Much smoother and more comfortable than a chocobo."  
"Aye, and the wind in me hair reminds me of the seas," Faris said. "Though the smell is not of the oceans. Smells more like death and poverty."  
"Aye," Reina responded.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 10th Place]  
Garnet drove the orange truck up the stairs and down the hallway. It was a lot more difficult for her than other teams because along with the task at hand, she had to put up with a screaming and flailing Brahne.  
"Oh my goodness we're going to diiiiiiiiie!" she screamed. "Stop stop stop! Turn around! Let's go home! I already have millions of dollars let's quit now oh my goooooooodness!"  
Garnet continued on, despite her mother's screaming. Their truck zipped through the opening just as the pink convertible had only moments before.

[Celes & Cid: Subject/Researcher, Currently in 11th Place]  
"Celes, I hardly get to see you anymore," Cid said, completely oblivious to the death-defying leap onto the freeway their truck had just made.  
"That's part of why I asked you to come with me on this race," Celes responded. She was barely concentrated on the road, though as the driver she still was sure to drive safely. "Considering you're my granddad of sorts, I don't know you too well beyond all the weird tests and experiments. Even _those_ I don't know incredibly well."  
"But with Locke or Terra or really any of your former teammates, you have a better chance of winning."  
"True, but I think we can still do it. So tell me something. Something about you. What are you experimenting with these days?"  
"I'm not really at liberty to say," Cid responded. "Let's simplify and say it involves microwaves and human body parts- err, actually, let's just say it's tests on people."  
"Hey, I think those Ronso guys just past us!" Celes shouted on top of Cid's words. "I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked Cid.  
"Tests on people," he responded. "That's all I said. Tests on people."  
"Oh. Interesting I guess."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 11th Place]  
Biran drove the blue motorcycle while Yenke stuck out of the sidecar like a Muppet in a trashcan.  
"This scary compared to Ronso normal lives," Yenke said. "Ronso need more motor-wheel devices."  
"Biran agree," Biran agreed. "Biran want one just like this. Only yellow. Yellow better color than blue."


	3. Episode 1, Part 3

All twelve teams drove in the direction of the chocobo farm. Fran and Balthier led the pack, though Freya and Fratley's red convertible was close behind.

"Can we pass them?" Fratley asked Freya. Their car snuck up on Fran and Balthier's motorcycle.  
"I don't think it would help," Freya said. She pointed into the distance. "That looks like a pasture of chocobos, so I'd assume it is the chocobo farms."  
"Oh _those_ are chocobos," he responded. "I was thinking chocobos were the small furry things with pom-poms on their heads. What are those again?"  
"Moogles," Freya said. "You know, I'm glad that you do not remember everything. I was starting to think I was the only thing you'd forgotten."  
"Of course not," Fratley said. "I also forgot math entirely."  
"Tragic."

Fran drove her motorcycle to the chocobo farms and slid to a stop near a large fenced area containing four yellow chocobos. Behind the chocobo corral was a large red barn with two wide doors in the front standing open. To the left of the corral was a standard small house, which was only really important because of the red and yellow clue box standing on the porch. She and Balthier hopped out and quickly ran for the clue box.  
Freya's red car pulled up beside the motorcycle and parked. Freya and Fratley struggled with their seatbelts, then finally got out and ran after Fran and Balthier.  
Fran reached the clue box first. She grabbed her clue and read it aloud. "Make your way to Junon via chocobo."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to the city of Junon using one of the green chocobos in the stables. These green chocobos are capable of climbing mountains, which teams will lead over a mountain range to the west. Once they reach Junon, they will receive their next clue."

"Let's hurry," Fran said. She and Balthier jogged to the stables with Freya and Fratley on their heels.  
Inside the stables were several green chocobos in individual pens. A small boy stood in front watching the teams. On each of the chocobo pens was a label with a team name.  
"Here," Freya said. She pointed to the first pen on the left, which was labeled 'Freya/Fratley'. She and Fratley opened the gate and let their green chocobos out. They hopped on and rode off for the mountain range.  
Fran and Balthier soon found their chocobos in a pen in the back. They released their chocobos and pursued Freya and Fratley.

"This is exciting," Ma said to Zell. Their motorcycle rode right beside Cecil and Rosa's convertible. Zone and Watts were not far behind.  
"I just hope we can keep a good lead," Zell said.  
"We have a full half hour on the second set of teams. We should be fine. At least we shouldn't worry. It's just these three teams here, and if we just keep our own pace and don't try to knock them down, we should keep a pace that will keep us ahead of other teams."  
"Well then what about those two cars behind our pack?" Zell asked.  
Ma looked back and saw a dark convertible and a blue truck gaining on their small pack of three. "Oh my. Zell, hit it! Don't let them pass us!"

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 7th Place]  
Reno inched his black car forward and continued to attempt to pass Barret and Dyne's truck, but Barret always gunned it so that he had to jump back behind them.  
"Ksh, I swear that's not legal," Reno said. "Hey Rude. Know what I hate?"  
"Women's basketball," Rude answered.  
"I mean in regards to the race." Reno sighed. "I hate following all these rules y'know. What I wouldn't give to just bump a couple teams off. Some slashed tires here, some explosives there. I think it would make better TV too."  
"Yeah." Rude was silent for a short while, then finally he broke the silence with two words. "Pass them."  
"That's what I'm sayin'," Reno replied. He again attempted to pass Barret and Dyne.

[Barret & Dyne: Fathers, Currently in 6th Place]  
"Damn nosy Turks," Barret cursed at the car attempting to pass them and punched the accelerator. Once again, the Turks were forced to let down and slide back behind the truck.  
"Is it bad if they pass us?" Dyne asked. "The farms aren't far. We would get there only second apart anyway."  
"It's da principle," Barret said. He slammed his fist on the dashboard. "We's gonna beat them to the farms, then we's gonna beat them to the Pit Stop."  
"I completely agree. Screw them."

The block of five teams reached the chocobo farms: Ma and Zell, Cecil and Rosa, and Zone and Watts were first to the box, but Barret and Dyne, and Reno and Rude quickly caught up and read their clues at the same time.  
"Make your way to Junon via chocobo," Rosa read.  
"Damn," Barret said. "I hate ridin' chocobos. They're too damn small and bony."  
The teams quickly raced to the stables and grabbed their chocobos. Zone and Watts were the first out, followed by a messy flock of green erupting from the stables.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 9th Place]  
Garnet drove the orange truck past a small town. A sign nearby marked that as the town of Kalm.  
"Should we stop and ask for directions?" Garnet asked her mother.  
Brahne was silent. She was eagerly watching the rearview mirror where a yellow truck began to gain on them and soon began to pass on the left. Brahne rolled down her window and shook her fist at Cid and Celes as they drove by. "Crazy driver! It's so unsafe to pass people! You should be kicked out of this race for recklessness!" She turned her attention to Garnet. "Garnet, sweetheart. Be a dear and pass them."  
"Okay." Garnet hit the gas and pulled to the left and snuck by Cid and Celes, thus regaining their position.

[Celes & Cid: Subject/Researcher, Currently in 10th Place]  
"You're right, Granddad," Celes said to Cid as she watched Garnet and Brahne pass them back. "This is legal then?"  
"I believe so," Cid said. "I'm not a very frequent driver, but I believe that speed limits are in place for safety, but when passing a person in a legal passing zone, you can go as fast as you need to to get in front of the car ahead and out of oncoming traffic's way."  
"So we just keep at maximum speed and leapfrog at faster speeds the whole way then. Good thing Brahne is too headstrong. She'll order Garnet to pass us every time."  
"I hope so. Now Celes, pass them again."  
"Can do," Celes said. She threw on her left blinker and began to pass the orange truck once again.

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 1st Place]  
Freya and Fratley rode their chocobos to a large town built into the side of a large, tall cliffside. They dismounted and jogged to a clue box in front of a small house on the outskirts of the town. Freya snatched the clue from the box and read it.  
"Participate in a parade and synchronized gun twirling competition for special guests to obtain your next clue," she read.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel through the large city of Junon to a celebration they have once a year. First, teams must join an already started parade at a marked location by simply hopping into line and mimicking the motions of the other soldiers. At a certain point, there will be a camera crew watching their actions. If they do not blend into the parade enough, they will be escorted back to the beginning and asked to try again. At the end of the parade route, teams will break away from the parade and join with two other soldiers in a synchronization gun twirling competition where they must memorize specific commands and perform them as a sergeant calls the orders out. Should their performance be decent enough, they will receive their next clue from two special guests, which teams may recognize as Rufus and Shinra: _The Amazing Final Fantasy Race_ 's season one winners. If their performance is not up to par, they must wait for five minutes before trying again."

"I think we stand out just looks-wise," Fratley said. "This may be tough."  
"I may have the same problem," Fran said. She and Balthier read through their own clue after having snuck up on the two rats.  
"Shall we?" Balthier said. The three others nodded and the four racers headed to a nearby elevator that was marked by a red and yellow flag.  
Upon entering the elevator, the four were met by a soldier with a stack of standard military clothes and lightweight model rifles.  
"Attention!" he shouted. Freya and Fratley stood tall and stiff, while Balthier and Fran slouched and waited to hear what the officer had to say. "Each of you degenerates put on these outfits while we head to the main floor. It'll be a while. I'll also be showing you the standard moves you'll need to know for the parade and the competition. Pay attention because you only get this lecture once. And put on your damn clothes! Take off your old clothes and put them into this bag in the corner. The bag will be transported to the end so you can get your precious clothes back. Are you nancies ready!?"  
"Strip here?" Freya asked.  
"Problem?" Balthier asked. His pants were already around his ankles and his shirts was halfway unbuttoned.  
"If you'd prefer to wait, we'll be sure to acknowledge you when we take our rightful leading position," Fran teased.  
"Strip, Fratley," Freya ordered.  
"I'm already done, m'lady," Fratley said wearing the soldier outfit. "I'm actually halfway to undressing you as well."  
"Oh. I'll take over from here. Thank you, Sir Fratley."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 8th Place]  
Dona and Barthello exited their car and ran to the clue box at the chocobo farms. "To Junon by chocobos," Barthello read.  
Dona began to stroll to the stables when she saw two brightly colored trucks approaching quickly. "Hurry, Barthello!"  
"I am," Barthello said. He bent down and lifted Dona off the ground and cradled her in his arms, then ran for the stables.  
"My hero," Dona said dryly. "You know the stables are all of thirty feet away."  
"I- I just want to save us all the time I can," Barthello informed her.

Cid and Celes jumped out of their truck and ran for the clue box. Garnet and a screaming Brahne followed closely.  
"That really saved us some time," Garnet said to Celes. "Did you plan that or-"  
"You're welcome," Cid said, looking over the clue.  
"We could have _died_!" Brahne said loudly.  
"There was little to no oncoming traffic," Celes informed her. "But that's not important right now. We need chocobos."  
"May God have mercy on certain chocobos," Cid said. He patted Brahne on the back. "Good luck, madam."  
"Thank you, kind sir!" Brahne said happily. She leaned in to Garnet. "I like him."  
"I'm sure," Garnet said.  
The four found their chocobos and raced off after Dona and Barthello in search of Junon.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 11th Place]  
Reina and Faris hopped out of their car and Faris ran for the clue box. Reina stopped to talk to a nearby chocobo.  
"You're so cute!" Reina said to it. "What's your name? Merton? That's a kind of pretty name. I'm Reina."  
"Excuse us, Merton," Faris said to the chocobo. "The race beckons us." She pulled her sister away from the chocobo and led her to the clue box.  
"Oh good!" Reina said as she read their clue. "I get my own chocobo to ride!"  
Reina and Faris hopped on their chocobos and rode off, just before Biran and Yenke reached the chocobo farms.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place]  
Biran and Yenke ran quickly to the clue box and read their clue.  
"Ronso bad with directions," Yenke said.  
"No, _Yenke_ bad with directions," Biran said. "Biran told you it was this way."  
The two Ronso ran into the stables and claimed the last pair of green chocobos.

Freya, Fratley, Fran, and Balthier all waited in an alleyway between two large gray buildings. Out into the street was a loud parade of soldiers marching in front of the cliffside wall of storefronts and low quality apartments. The opposite side of the street was not buildings, but instead a railing with a wonderful view of the ocean.  
"I suppose we just jump in when we see an opening," Balthier observed. "Shall we?"  
The soldiers marched in large blocks that were five soldiers wide and five soldiers long. Occasionally, the blocks were missing the two soldiers in the back, where the racers were presumably supposed to squeeze in. One such gap appeared in a nearing set.  
"Okay, Fran," Balthier said. "Let's-"  
"Wait for the next one," Fran finished. She pointed to Freya and Fratley, who had quickly jumped ahead of them and darted into the opening. They raised their guns on cue with the rest of the soldiers and began their march.  
"That was so something I'd have done," Balthier said. "Shame really."  
"There's another gap," Fran said.  
"Let's take it before another team sneaks in."  
Balthier and Fran ran to the block of soldiers and snuck in the back. Balthier fit right in, but Fran fumbled slightly with her gun.

The pack of five teams continued to stay together over the mountains and soon reached the clue box in Junon. Cecil and Rosa were technically in the lead with Reno and Rude poised to pass them, but with the clue box in sight, none of the teams seemed to care about their exact position.  
Zone was the first to the clue box and instead of causing a horrible mess of the clues, took five out and handed them to Reno, Rosa, Ma, and Dyne. He kept the last for himself and ripped it open.  
"This sounds... complicated," Zell said.  
"Time's a wasting," Reno said with a glance at his watch. He and Rude started running for the elevator, then Reno stopped and looked over his shoulder. "It's this way. You might want to hurry before we lock you out."  
The four other teams began running over toward the elevator. Rude peered over his sunglasses at Reno. "Helping?"  
"Helping doesn't hurt us right now," Reno said. "Build up confidence for now, then drop it off slowly, y'know?"  
"Hope it doesn't backfire."  
"Yeah, me too," Reno scratched his head. "Well, let's go."  
The five teams packed tightly into the elevator and began their assent.  
"Okay, maggots! Strip down to your skivvies and put your new clothes on!" the sergeant yelled.  
Most of the eyes in the elevator shot over to Rosa, except for Ma and Rosa, who both eyed up Cecil.  
"I don't think I can do it," Ma said to Zell. "I might have to wait."  
"But Ma!" Zell started. He calmed down and thought for a moment. "At least slide your pants on under your skirt and apron. I guess we'll find a bathroom before waiting to the march thing."  
"Parade," Watts said.  
"Right." Zell looked down at Zone, who was in his usual position on the ground.  
"Oh great," Watts said, following Zell's gaze. He bent down to Zone. "I _told_ you to just look at the ceiling and think of kittens."  
"I tried," Zone said. "B- But she's not wearing a umm, you know. _Braaaa_."  
"Cecil, honey?" Rosa said calmly as she put the soldier top on. "Now just keep concentrating on the task at hand, okay? Don't worry that a bunch of guys are drooling over me right now."  
" _I don't mind_ ," Cecil muttered through clenched teeth.  
"Well at least know that Zell and his mom didn't look. Zell was too busy covering himself and his mom was watching you."  
"Eww," Cecil said. He was suddenly hit from behind by a shoe-swinging Ma, who bashed him over the head. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just meant that- I'm just sorry."  
"Ma, please," Zell said. "We might get eliminated if you attack other teams."  
"It's okay," Cecil said. "I deserved it."  
"See there?" Ma said. "I'll be nicer though."

Freya and Fratley continued to march, executing the movement fluidly. Finally they broke off from the parade route and found a person standing by an archway. He had a red and yellow flag hanging above him. He wore normal clothes aside from a headset that was linked to the video crew they could not see.  
"Freya and Fratley," the man said. "Your scores qualified you. Move on to part two."  
"Thank you," they both said as they ran down the street to the second part of their task.

Fran and Balthier marched fairly decently. Balthier handled his gun perfectly, though he did not keep pace as well as Fran, who had problems with some of the random gun movements. The two finished and reached the man in the headset.  
"Balthier and Fran, " he said. "Your scores qualified you. Move on to part two."  
"Perfect," Balthier said. "Ladies first." He motioned for Fran to go ahead of him, then the two ran after Freya and Fratley.

Reno and Rude were the first of the bunch to jump into the march. Rude made it flawlessly, while Reno tripped on his untied shoelace and stumbled into line. After the slip up, the two both seemed fairly confident in marching for the camera. Reno was very proficient at the gun maneuvers, while Rude was proficient all around and occasionally had to nudge Reno to make him march faster.

Cecil and Rosa jumped into line. Neither seemed to know how a gun worked, but they marched relatively well.

Barret and Dyne followed them. Both were larger than the ordinary soldier and nearly 50% wider than the average soldier, so the two person gap seemed a bit troublesome since Dyne stuck out and destroyed the invisible box surrounding their section. They each had some difficulties as well since both had guns grafted to an arm, so holding a gun correctly became a difficult task.

With Rosa well gone, Zone finally rose to his feet and hopped into the next set with Watts. Both walked more slouched than the other soldiers, but their gun handling was fairly decent.

"Hurry, Ma!" Zell yelled into a woman's restroom every time the door swung open.  
Finally Ma came out in the soldier's uniform. Without another word, the two hopped into a group and began their march.

Dona, Barthello, Celes, Cid, Garnet, and Brahne rode into Junon. Brahne's chocobo died.  
"Dearie me," Brahne said, looking over her dead chocobo. "Is it okay?"  
"It'll be fine," Garnet said. "I heard somebody saying they had a gysahl green/phoenix down mixture that should get it back. They'll tend to the poor guy."  
The three groups grabbed their clues and headed for the elevator. The doors opened and the group entered to get their lecture.  
"Barthello, face the wall," Dona ordered as everybody began changing into their outfits.  
"You too, Granddad," Celes said to Cid.  
"Never any fun for an old man," Cid said.

Freya, Fratley, Fran, and Balthier all reached the synchronized gun twirling competition zone at the same time. It was an open area beside a large ramp into the cargo of a large ship. In the middle of the arena were four soldiers, a commanding soldier blowing a whistle and shouting commands, and the two Shinras. President Shinra wore his standard red suit and Rufus wore his normal white trench coat.  
"You can do better," Rufus said to the soldiers at attention. "I think my grandma could do better. Fix it and come back when I can tolerate it."  
"Yes, sir," the soldiers said sadly as they walked away from the area.  
"First two racers, come on in!" President Shinra said. "I think the rats were first."  
Freya and Fratley moved forward into the line with the two actual soldiers on each side.  
"Okay, if you get confused, watch the guys on the outside," the commanding soldier told Freya and Fratley. "They're pros. They only mess up umm, not often. So ready? Cross!"  
Freya and Fratley both watched out of the corner of their eyes at the soldiers on the sides and tried to mimic the posture as they thrust their guns forward, then across to the left shoulder, forward again, then across to the right shoulder. Both Freya and Fratley did it well enough, but were a lot slower than the soldiers.

Reina and Faris reached Junon with the Ronso only seconds behind them. They dismounted their chocobos and quickly grabbed the clue. They gave it a quick read though and ran to the elevator doors.  
"All here!" Reina said to the soldier inside. "Close the doors please?"

Biran and Yenke grabbed their clue and headed for the closing elevator doors.  
"Wait for Biran!" Biran shouted.  
"Also Yenke!" Yenke added.  
The Ronso ran as quickly as they could and barely got their hands in the doors. They elevator opened for the Ronso and the four rode to the top.

"Left face!" the commander shouted.  
Freya and Fratley turned to face Shinra and Rufus once again after several turns pointed them away.  
"Finish strong!"  
Freya and Fratley took their guns and spun them over their heads, then held them against their backs.  
Rufus approached them with a cold glare in his eyes. "Very good. You shame my soldiers." He handed the two a clue as well as a gold ticket.  
Freya and Fratley left the competition area for Fran and Balthier to take their turn, then ripped open their clue.  
"Make your way to the airport and claim a departure time for the departing airship to the Gold Saucer."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must travel a short distance to the airship pad in Junon. Scattered around the pad are several clues taped to the ground with departure times, all leaving tomorrow morning at 10:00am, 10:20am, and 10:40am. There are a limited number of each flight, so teams must go quickly to grab the earliest flight. Then, in the morning, the teams will travel by airship directly to the world's largest theme park: The Gold Saucer. They will use the gold ticket given to them by Rufus Shinra. If they lose it, they will not be allowed into the park."

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Hurry," Freya said to Fratley. The pair raced off with a quick glance back at Balthier and Fran as they perfectly executed the triangle maneuver. "They'll be on us in no time."  
Freya and Fratley ran to the airport and saw a huge open area with a large target-like pattern on the ground for airships to land. Scattered around, nearly impossible to see, were twelve yellow clues stuck to the ground.  
"I found a 10:20," Fratley shouted as Freya searched for more. "Is that the earliest?"  
"No, I found a 10:00," Freya said. "I'll stay by this, you search for anything faster."  
A short search continued, but Fratley finally stopped checking. "Okay, take it," he said. "It's the earliest one."

"Reno and Rude," the man with the headset said. "Your work was satisfactory. Move on to the next task."  
"You got it," Reno said. He and Rude ran to the next area.

"Cecil and Rosa. Your work was apparently enjoyable. The boys upstairs sent a flower for you. Continue to the next task." The man handed Rosa a flower just before the pair ran off.  
"You're okay with that, right?" Rosa asked Cecil.  
"Fine," Cecil said.  
"Good."

"Finish strong!" the commander shouted.  
Balthier and Fran tossed their guns high into the air, then turned away from each other and fell into each other; their backs supported the other as each of them caught the other's gun.  
"You planned that," Rufus said.  
"We had some time while watching those other two," Balthier said.  
"It was good," he handed them the clue and gold ticket.  
"Thank you," Fran said.

"Barret and Dyne," the headset man said. "Your work was very bad. Try again."  
"What!?" Barret shouted. "You try doin' this with a friggin' gun stuck to your friggin' arm!"  
"Come on, we're wasting time," Dyne whined. He pulled Barret away and the two ran quickly back to the starting area.

Dona and Barthello looked out into the marching soldiers and finally found their opening. They ran forward and joined a line with Dona on the outside. Barthello pulled her in slightly and adjusted her gun for her, then began marching himself.

Celes and Cid jumped into the next batch of soldiers. Cid was wheezing slightly, but he kept up well with the marching soldiers.

"It's my lucky day!" Brahne shouted as she watched Barret and Dyne running towards them.  
"Mother, please," Garnet said. "Watch the soldiers for an opening."  
"Sorry, sweetie, it's just that-"  
The doors to the elevator opened and Reina and Faris and Biran and Yenke stepped out.  
"Ooh my!" Brahne shouted. "I _know_ it's my lucky day now! The big boys, the hairy boys, and that long haired boy!"  
Garnet glanced back briefly, then looked forward at the soldiers again. "That's a girl, Mother."  
Brahne looked back and studied Faris, then with a disgusted look on her face, looked back to the soldiers. "There's an opening, honey. Sneak in there."  
Garnet and Brahne jumped into a group of soldiers. Garnet fit nicely and Brahne still hung slightly over the edge, but she did all the gun maneuvers very well, with a slight problem of over-exaggerating the motions.  
Barret and Dyne jumped in after them, then Reina and Faris and finally Biran and Yenke.

"Finish strong!" the commander shouted.  
Reno and Rude spun the guns over their heads, then in front of them, then stuffed them behind their backs where Rufus was unable to see them any longer.  
"That looked like the finishing move they used several years ago," Rufus said.  
"It was, sir," Rude said.  
"When we trained as regular soldiers, y'know," Reno added.  
"I figured." Rufus handed them their clue and ticket.

"10:00 looks best," Balthier said. "Pull it, Franny."  
"Don't call me Franny, Ffamran," Fran said. She pulled the sticker off of the clue, thus claiming a spot on the 10:00 trip.

"Zone and Watts," the headset man said. "You were good enough. Move on."  
"Cool," Zone said.  
"Thanks," Watts added.

"Zell and Ma. You were very good. They sent a box of chocolates for you. You may move on."  
"I love chocolate!" Ma said, grabbing the box from his hands.  
"I love winning!" Zell said. "Thanks, sir."

Reno and Rude moved in quickly and after a quick search, found the 10:00 to be the first flight. The two ripped off their sticker and joined the 10:00am group.  
"From now on, we remember to make sure things are _really_ the best choice," Reno said. "That flight was crap. I hate that."  
Rude nodded.

Cecil and Rosa twirled their guns as the man had shown them in the elevator, despite the confined space. They rested the guns on their shoulders and waited for Rufus.  
"Good enough," Rufus said. "What do you think?" Rufus asked over his shoulder to President Shinra.  
"Whatever," Shinra said.  
"Exactly. Here you go." Rufus gave them their clue and ticket.

Zone and Watts jumped in between the two soldiers and readied their guns.  
"Cross!" the commander shouted. The two did fairly sloppy, but efficient crosses. "Left face!"  
Watts spun to his left and saw Zone in front of him looking directly at him.  
"Somehow I'm thinking we already lost," Zone said.  
"I agree," Watts said. He looked at Rufus. "I think we'll just take our penalty now and get it over with."  
"Probably a good move," Rufus said. "Okay, five minutes starting now."

"Dona and Barthello," the headset man said. "Good job. Move on."  
Dona and Barthello quickly ran off. Celes and Cid ran to the headset man only seconds after Dona and Barthello had left the area.  
"Celes and Cid," he said. "Congrats. You're through."

Ma and Zell twirled their guns and awaited Rufus's inspection.  
"Not bad, especially from you," Rufus pointed at Ma. He looked to Zell. "You need to work on your gun control."  
"I'll do that," Zell said.  
"No, you won't. But here's your clue anyway." Rufus handed him the clue and ticket.

"So here's where we started," Rosa said. "Oh sheesh. There it is." She pointed to the airport, then looked over to Rufus, who had just handed Zell and Ma a clue.  
"We need to hurry," Cecil said.  
"Yes."  
Rosa and Cecil dashed off to the airport while Ma and Zell gave chase. All four raced into the airport and began frantically looking for the best time.  
"10:20!" Cecil shouted to Rosa.  
"10:40!" Rosa replied as she found her own clue.  
"Anything?" Ma asked Zell.  
"Just a bunch of 10:40s," Zell responded.  
"Is that the last 10:20 he's got?" Ma yelled.  
"Should I just take it?" Cecil asked Rosa.  
"You decide!" she responded.  
Rosa began searching with Ma and Zell for a better time, when finally Cecil pulled up the time. "Okay, I'm taking it."  
"Wait!"  
"Don't say 'wait', I already pulled it!" Cecil yelled back.  
"Oh great, and I just found a 10:00." Rosa sighed, then looked up at Ma and Zell who stared at her like a couple of vultures. "Do well with it, guys."  
"Thank you so much," Ma said. "I'm so sorry for you."

The remaining teams finished their tasks with little difficulty. Zone and Watts returned from their penalty and performed well. Then one by one the teams cleared the tasks and pulled up their times. Biran and Yenke were the last to reach Rufus.

"Finish strong!" the commander yelled.  
Biran and Yenke tossed down their guns and violently pushed the other soldiers to the floor.  
Rufus and Shinra both laughed and applauded the two Ronso.  
"Best finish yet," Rufus said. He handed the pair their clue and ticket.  
Biran and Yenke ran to the airport and grabbed the remaining timeslot: 10:40am. They joined the others in a giant circle of sleeping bags, mini-tents, and blankets.  
"Hornless humans cannot tolerate the cold like Ronso," Biran said.  
"Ronso strong," Yenke said. "Ronso stay up all night in cold weather and howl until sun comes back up."  
" _Tell_ me they're not serious," Dona muttered.  
" _Tell_ me they're not sexy as heck," Brahne commented loudly. "Such big-"  
"Horns?" Yenke asked.  
" _Gigantic_ horns! So strong and powerful, yet beautiful."  
"Maybe I should spare us all and eliminate us myself," Garnet said.  
Celes put her hand on Garnet's. "I would understand if you did. In fact, I think you should."  
"Zone?" Watts said, looking to his sleeping bagged friend. "You need to stop watching those girls. You're pitching a tent in your sleeping bag, and that's just completely... wrong."  
"Sorry," Zone said. He turned to his side and fell asleep.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"All twelve teams have checked in and will depart to The Gold Saucer in three shifts. Leaving at 10:00am are: Freya and Fratley, Fran and Balthier, Reno and Rude, and Zell and Ma. Leaving at 10:20am are: Cecil and Rosa, Zone and Watts, Dona and Barthello, and Celes and Cid. Leaving last at 10:40am are: Brahne and Garnet, Barret and Dyne, Reina and Faris, and Biran and Yenke."

[10:00am Airship Departing]  
The four 10:00am teams boarded their airship, which was a large black ship guided by large jets and floating using a large red balloon. The ship floated away from the other teams, which all waited eagerly for their own ships to arrive.  
The airship landed in a large open area by The Gold Saucer entrance. There was a large archway that said "Welcome" and a woman standing by a model of a fat chocobo.  
"Ticket, please," she said to each team, the first of which was Ma and Zell.  
Zell handed her the ticket and he and Ma entered. The room was a large circle with several holes in the walls with labels above them. In the center of the room was a clue box.  
Ma grabbed their clue and read it. "Detour: Game or Fame."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In Game, teams must travel to the Wonder Square: an area known for having several arcade-like games. Teams must play and win four of the games to the degree of difficulty listed on cards beside the machines. The games only have to be beaten once, so each team member will only need to play two games, but the teammate not playing cannot play while his or her teammate is busy. The tasks are relatively simple, but playing four games could take a long time. In Fame, teams must go to the Speed Square where they will ride on a roller coaster and be equipped with laser guns. Team will ride the coaster and attempt to shoot at various objects on the course worth a certain amount of points. If they obtain a legendary score of over 5,000 points, they will receive their next clue. The task is short, but it will require fast reflexes and a sharp eye to shoot enough things to get the necessary points."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
"I'm not a very gun-liking woman," Ma said. "Can we do the Games, Zell?"  
"Of course, Ma," Zell said. "Let's get to the Wonder Square."

"Let's get this over quickly then," Balthier said. "Shall we go Fame?"  
"Of course we shall," Fran said.

"I love that roller coaster," Reno said. "Let's do it."  
"I hate that roller coaster," Rude said. "Whatever."

"Freya, you may decide," Fratley said. "I'm still unsure of my own abilities."  
"I think we have decent accuracy," Freya said. "Let's attempt the Fame."

Ma and Zell jumped into the hole to the Wonder Square, while Balthier, Fran, Reno, Rude, Freya, and Fratley all ran to the Speed Square hole.

[10:20am Airship Departing]  
The four 10:20am teams boarded their airship, which was the same large black ship but with a large blue balloon. Cecil, Rosa, Zone, Watts, Dona, Barthello, Celes, and Cid all waved to the remaining four teams as their ship took off.

Zell and Ma popped out through a hole in the floor and entered a room with a staircase leading up to a glass hallway. They followed the hallway to a room filled with bright lights and several non-standard arcade games. Attached to select machines was a red and yellow tag with writing on the back.  
"What should we try first?" Ma asked.  
Zell looked around and saw a snowboarding machine in the back, which he was instantly drawn to. He looked at the challenge tag on it. "Complete the Crazy Course," he read. He cracked his knuckles. "No problem."  
"Exactly," Ma said. She hopped onto the snowboard and pushed the 'on' button.  
"Ma, what're you doing? I'm a master of boards. You don't know-"  
"Don't know what?" Ma asked. "From what I hear, your T-Board was confiscated, leaving you with no time to practice. Meanwhile, your dear old ma has had _full_ access to the one in your room. Just watch."  
"Sure, Ma," Zell said. He sat behind the machine and watched his Ma slide right into the first corner.  
"Don't mind that, Zelly. Just getting my sea-legs back."  
"Hope so."

Reno and Rude were the first to run out of the doorway from the main room. They raced up a flight of stairs and down a hallway into a line queue for a roller coaster. Upon reaching the front, they hopped into the first and second seats in the coaster as a ride operator put the bar down on their laps and released the coaster.  
"Left or right?" Reno asked Rude, who sat behind him.  
"Right," Rude responded.  
"Got it. And if there's anything directly in front of us, I'll take it."  
Reno looked over his shoulder at the line queue, which had Fran and Balthier in front to go next and Freya and Fratley prepared to go after that.  
The coaster went up a long chained hill, then finally peaked at the top and sped downward. A ghost appeared to the left, then immediately disappeared when Reno blasted it with his laser. A second appeared to the right and disappeared equally fast as the first one.

[Ma & Zell: One game completed]  
"Wow, Ma," Zell said. He watched his mother step off the snowboard machine after taking the time to put her initials into the high score. "I guess I'll take next on this motorcycle game. It looks fun."  
"Good luck, Zelly!"

A second train pulled up before the first had returned. Fran and Balthier boarded the roller coaster and prepared their lasers while the safety bar was lowered. They started up the tall hill and soon were looking down on the entire theme park. Bright lights reflected off of the gold surfaces.  
"Only observe the sights briefly," Balthier said. "We have a job to do."  
Fran blasted an approaching ghost. "I noticed."

Reno and Rude's train pulled into the station. The two put their lasers in the coaster holsters and stepped out to wait for their score to appear on the screen. It finally lit up: "Reno & Rude: 5,711 points."  
"Perfect," Reno said. "Where's our clue?" A man came out of the booth and handed them their clue. Reno quickly ripped it open and read it. "Make your way to the Round Square and locate the Pit Stop for this leg of the race."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to a section of the Gold Saucer used for viewing the glorious theme park. From high in the sky they must locate the yellow and red flags attached to the haunted hotel in the Ghost Square. They must then travel to the Pit Stop and check in. The last team to check in, may be eliminated."

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place]  
"We could be first, y'know," Reno said to Rude.  
"Let's go then," Rude said.  
The two Turks quickly raced off to the hallway to find the doorway to the Round Square.

[Ma & Zell: Three games completed]  
"You can do it, Zelly!" Ma cheered on.  
Zell's elbow was against a table and his arm battled furiously against a holographic wrestler. Zell's arm was starting to fall backwards. Zell struggled and finally gave it his all. The wrestler's arm inched backwards and finally tapped the table.  
A man emerged from the corner of the room and handed them a clue.  
"Thank you," Ma said as she ripped at the clue. "Make your way to the Round Square- Ooh! Locate the _Pit Stop_ for this leg of the race!"  
"Hurry," Zell said. He tugged his mom's arm and ran for the tubes. "I saw a Round Square tube earlier. Let's hurry. We don't want to be eliminated!"

The 10:20am flight landed at the Gold Saucer. Cecil, Rosa, Zone, Watts, Dona, Barthello, Celes, and Cid all raced for the entrance. Each team showed their ticket to the woman outside and raced inside to the clue box.

"Game or Fame," Watts read.  
"I can't take fame," Zone said. "Let's Game."

"Barthello, can you shoot?" Dona asked.  
"I'm afraid I cannot," Barthello said. "But I could try if you'd-"  
"No, I can't either. Let's Game."

"Fame all the way," Celes said. "You're good with machines and guns and stuff, right?"  
"Definitely," Cid responded.

"None of these look very appealing," Rosa said. "What do you think, Ceese?"  
"I guess Fame," Cecil said. "It seems faster, so it's the logical choice."

Reno and Rude walked out of the door connecting the Speed Square to the Round Square. They approached the Round Square operator, when suddenly Ma and Zell ran through and hopped in front of them.  
"Two please!" Ma shouted to the operator.  
"Wh- Hey!" Reno yelled.  
"Go ahead," the operator said.  
Zell and Ma entered the large wooden shack that was attached to a large metal track above it. The track circled the entire Gold Saucer and the attachment to the shack had a pair of wheels to guide it along the course.  
"There's plenty of room," the operator said. He motioned for the two Turks to board the same shack as Zell and Ma.  
Reno and Rude walked in calmly and sat on a bench across from where Zell and Ma sat.  
"Sorry," Zell said.  
"It's fine," Reno said. "Nice to see our opponents true colors now as opposed to later, y'know."  
"I wouldn't call them our _true_ colors. Just... Some colors. We're like rainbows."  
The shack began to sway as it was lifted away from the station and onto its track. The four inhabitants watched eagerly out the windows.

Balthier and Fran watched their scores as Freya and Fratley rode out on their own coaster. Celes and Cid entered the ride's queue with Cecil and Rosa not far behind. "Fran & Balthier: 5,003 points."  
"Cutting it close, I'd say," Balthier commented.  
Fran took their clue and pointed them in the direction of the Round Square.

[Zone & Watts: Two games completed]  
"My two are done," Watts said as he stepped away from the motorcycle game. "You can do the 3D Battler, the Submarine, Moghouse, or one of those hard games in the other room. Don't arm wrestle. Don't shoot 10 baskets. You'll never complete them."  
"I'll do the Submarine," Zone said. "Look around for another easy one after that. Something... technical."  
"I'll keep an eye out."

[Dona & Barthello: Two games completed]  
Barthello slammed the wrestler's hand down, finally completing their third task.  
"Good, Barthello," Dona said. "I need another game. What seems suitable for me besides the 3D Battler I already completed?"  
"Well there is umm," Barthello paused to think. "I guess... Moghouse?"  
"So pathetic," Dona said. "Fine, I'll play that dumb game and get this over with."

"There, there!" Ma whispered to Zell. She pointed at a flag attached to the ghost hotel.  
"Saw it, did you?" Reno said.  
Ma looked at the two Turks, who were already sitting down and resting.  
"You can't just follow us," Zell said. "We'll outrun you and then you'll be completely lost and-"  
"I'm pretty sure it's called the Ghost Square," Reno said. "We'll find it no problem."  
"Ma, you can outrun them, right?" Zell asked.  
"I hope so," she responded. The Turks chuckled.

[10:40am Flight Landing at the Gold Saucer]  
The final airship with the green balloon released the remaining teams. They all ran past the entrance lady and showed their tickets before snatching their clues and huddling around to decide who did what.

"I love those shooting games!" Brahne shouted. "Death and destruction and-"  
"Okay, we'll do Fame," Garnet said.

"Biran not have time for games," Biran said. "Biran should be famous."  
"Yenke will also be famous," Yenke said.  
"We'll see."

Faris looked at Reina. "This be yer big decision. We must play to our strengths. What be our strengths?"  
Reina thought hard, then read through the clue again. "Let me think."

"Dyne, whatchu think?" Barret asked.  
"I have pretty good aim, so Fame seems like a good idea."  
"I's thinkin' the same thing. Let's go."

The three teams all headed for the Speed Square while Faris and Reina stood alone by the clue box.  
"We'd have to wait for Fame," Reina said. "I think Game is best."  
"That's usin' yer head," Faris said.  
The two sisters ran to the Wonder Square and hopped in.

Freya and Fratley watched their scores appear on the board. "Freya and Fratley: 5,102 points."  
"Wonderful shooting," Freya said to Fratley. "You always did have a wonderful eye for precision."  
Freya received their clue and the pair rushed off to the Round Square as more teams neared the queue for the roller coaster.

"May the best team win," Zell said to the Turks as their shack approached the station. He wiped his hand on his shorts and extended it for a handshake.  
"We will," Reno said. "Thanks."  
"Good luck," Rude said. He patted Zell on the back.  
The shack stopped and all four racers immediately jumped out and ran to the door leading to the Ghost Square. They all tried to squeeze through at once and each team shoved their way though.

Gippal stood at the mat beside a muscular man wearing a black speedo.  
"Really? You don't wear more than that, Dio?" Gippal asked.  
"Not in public," Dio said.  
"I see." Gippal looked up and pointed to the tube from the Round Square where the first team emerged. Then immediately after, the second team emerged as all four racers ran for the mat.  
"Zell," Gippal said. "I'm sorry to tell you, but you have to be a full team to check in."  
Zell stood on the mat with both Turks over each shoulder sharing the mat with him. He saw his mom only a few steps behind, so he just smiled and stepped off the mat to join his mother.  
"Welcome to the Gold Saucer," Dio said.  
"Reno and Rude," Gippal said. "You're team number one!"  
Reno socked Rude in the arm. "Victory number one."  
"As the winners of this leg of the race, you've both won lifetime passes to the Gold Saucer as well as 5,000 gil a piece, which you can enjoy after the race."  
"Five thousand is good," Reno said. "But I already own passes."  
"So do I," Rude said.  
The Turks stepped off the mat and let Zell and Ma through.  
"Ma and Zell," Gippal said. "You're team number two!"  
"And the proud owners of lifetime passes to the Gold Saucer," Reno said, leaning between Zell and Ma with his arm around each of them. "It's for giving us a good sprint to the end. A bonus for second place."  
"Thanks, guys," Zell said.  
"Oh, come on now!" Reno said. He pushed off of Zell and Ma and took a couple steps back. "No getting mushy on us. Don't think that much of it. This place doesn't even allow drinking."  
Ma smiled. "Thank you, boys."  
"You're welcome," Rude said.

"There we are," Balthier said. He pointed to the ghost hotel from above the Gold Saucer in their lone shack. "Don't suppose we could end this early, could we?"  
"I think not," Fran responded.

"I see it," Freya said from their own shack in the sky. "Some scary looking hotel."  
"Good eye," Fratley said. "Would it be unfair to leap back down to beat the other team?"  
"I think we would be penalized," Freya said. "Let's just wait until it is in the station."  
"Do I always do as you say?"  
"Yes."  
"Then we'll wait," Fratley responded.

Cecil and Rosa stood and waited for their scores. "Cecil & Rosa: 3,901 points."  
"Not good," Cecil said.  
"Not at all," Rosa said. "Let's line back up."  
Cecil and Rosa jumped back into line behind Biran and Yenke.

[Zone & Watts: Three games completed]  
Zone jumped back from the 3D Battler and cheered as the tall hologram with the afro fell to his knees. A man approached him and handed him their next clue.  
"We need to find the Pit Stop, man," Zone said. "By the way, nice call on the 3D Battle."  
"Seemed easy," Watts said.

[Dona & Barthello: Three games completed]  
"This moogle is so annoying," Dona said. "Does this game even _end_?"  
"I do not know," Barthello said. Finally the moogle waved at the screen and the words "The End" appeared on the screen. "Oh. I think it just ended."  
" _Thank_ you, Barthello," Dona said sarcastically. She took the clue from the man and read it. "Hurry up. We need to find the Pit Stop."  
"Yes, ma'am."

Celes and Cid waited for their scores to come on screen. They noticed Cecil and Rosa at the end of the line and grew slightly worried. "Celes & Cid: 4,720 points."  
"Not good," Cid said.  
"Let's line back up, Granddad," Celes said.

Fran and Balthier popped out of the Round Square tube in the Ghost Square and ran to the mat.  
"Fran and Balthier," Gippal said. "You're team number three!"  
"Lost a bit of wind at the end," Balthier said. "Won't happen again, I assure you."

"Freya and Fratley," Gippal said. The pair landed on the mat and Fratley held Freya closely. "You're team number four!"  
"See? Jumping would not have helped," Fratley said.  
"That's good," Freya said.

Barret and Dyne jumped off the roller coaster and waited for those scores.  
"I don't think I did so well," Dyne said. "I had to hold the gun with my non-gun hand, which is hard for aiming."  
"Yeah, same 'ere," Barret said. "But jus' shu'up. Wait for da scores."  
The score appeared on the screen. "Barret & Dyne: 4,310 points."  
Barret stayed quiet for a moment. "Whatchu think? Swap detours? Line's too long."  
"I think we should."  
Barret nodded and the pair ran for the tube connecting them to the Wonder Square.

"Zone and Watts," Gippal said. "You're team number five!"  
"We did it?" Zone asked.  
"You did it," Gippal responded.  
"Oh. Nice."

"Get it get it get it!" Brahne shouted as she fired at the large UFO. The stream on her laser lessened.  
"Fire in bursts," Garnet recommended. "I think it does more damage."  
"You do it your way, I'll do mine!"  
The UFO exploded and the roller coaster continued on it's path. Garnet and Brahne shot at the remaining obstacles and finally pulled into the station. They hopped out and looked at their score appear. "Brahne & Garnet: 5,200 points."  
"Yes!" Brahne cheered. "We did it."  
Garnet obtained the clue and the two headed for the Round Square.

"Dona and Barthello," Gippal said. "You're team number six!"  
"At least it's over," Dona said.  
"It was a fun race, too," Barthello said.  
"Whatever, Barthello. I need a backrub."  
"Yes, ma'am."

[Faris & Reina: Three tasks completed]  
"I wish this was more like a chocobo," Reina said as she rode the motorcycle. She smashed into one final racer and gained the necessary amount of points.  
"Me lucky day," Faris said. "Good job, sis."  
Reina took their clue and the two raced for the Round Square.

Biran and Yenke returned to the station and stepped off the roller coaster. They stood aside and watched their score appear on the screen. "Biran & Yenke: 1,200 points."  
"Does Biran want to do other game?" Yenke asked.  
"No. Biran want to finish this one. Do it right," Biran said.

"I don't see it!" Brahne shouted. She and Garnet circled the Gold Saucer in the shack in the sky. Both looked out of different windows.  
"I don't either, Mother," Garnet said.  
The shack came to a halt and the operator motioned for them to exit. "Have a good ride?" she asked.  
"No, we need to go again," Garnet explained.  
"Oh. Go right ahead," she responded.

"Thar it is," Faris said. She pointed into the distance at the ghost house.  
The two sisters got off the shack and went through the tubes to the Ghost Square and ran to the mat.  
"Faris and Reina," Gippal said. "You're team number seven!"

Cecil and Rosa got off the coaster and looked up to the score board for a second time. "Cecil & Rosa: 4,444 points."  
"Switch detours?" Cecil asked.  
"No, I think I know what we're doing wrong. One more try, I know we can do it."

[Barret & Dyne: Two games completed]  
"What arm they need?" Barret asked as he looked at the wrestling machine.  
"Right arm," Dyne said. "I suppose this is mine then?"  
"Guess so," Barret said. "Give it hell."  
Dyne turned on the wrestling machine and the powerful wrestler appeared. Dyne grabbed his arm and a light indicated for him to start pushing. Dyne gritted his teeth and slammed the wrestler's hand down in exactly one second.  
"One lef'," Barret said. "An' I gotta do it. What should I do?"

Celes and Cid jumped off the coaster and waited for their scores to appear. "Celes & Cid: 5,520 points."  
"Yes!" Celes shouted. She took their next clue and started off for the Round Square, when she looked back at Cid, who gave her an odd look. "What?"  
"I'm wondering if I've ever seen you that excited," Cid said.  
"Wonder later, let's go."  
The two raced off to find their next destination.

"Brahne and Garnet," Gippal said. The two girls huffed and wheezed, though most of that was Brahne. "You're team number eight!"  
"We made it?" Garnet asked.  
"You made it," Gippal confirmed.  
"Oh thank goodness. I thought our not seeing the flag the first time would set us back too far."

Celes and Cid popped through the tunnel from the Round Square to the Ghost Square and ran to the mat.  
"Celes and Cid," Gippal said. "You're team number nine!"  
"Tomorrow we'll be number one," Celes said.  
"I sure hope so," Cid said. "Then I'll get a longer rest break at the Pit Stop."

"Ready?" Rosa said as she strapped herself into the roller coaster.  
"I hope whatever you have planned works," Cecil said.  
"It will. I hope it will anyway. I just want to prove that attendant wrong. After getting off the ride last time, he said what a nancy he thought you were."  
"Pardon?" Cecil asked.  
"You know. Like a sissy. A wuss. Anyway, I just want to prove him wrong. He was all like 'I know if I had a hot piece of ass like that chick he's with, I wouldn't be such a pansy in front of her' and then he looked down my top and high-fived the guy next to him."  
" _Pardon_?" Cecil asked.  
"Nothing," Rosa said. "Good luck, honey."  
Cecil clenched his laser tightly. " _He'll regret those words._ "

Biran and Yenke waited in line alone as the second train pulled up on the tracks.  
"Better hurry," the attendant said. "At this rate, by laws of time and space, I think you need to go really fast to beat those guys that just left."  
"It is okay," Biran said. "Ronso learn quickly. Biran already figured out how to use hornless laser."  
"Hornless! Ho-" Yenke chimed in until he was interrupted.  
"Yenke! Yenke not know how to use hornless laser yet. Yenke not allowed to tease hornless humans about their hornless games."  
Their train shot out of the station and proceeded up the tall hill. Biran quickly shot the first ghost with a fair amount of accuracy.

[Barret & Dyne: Three games completed]  
"One more," Dyne urged Barret.  
"I know dat, I can count!" Barret said. He lined up the basketball with the hoop and threw the ball. It bounced off the backboard slightly above the red box and bounced too far away to get in the hoop.  
"Dammit!" Barret shouted. He slammed his fist down.  
"You had nine in a row too," Dyne said. He looked at the anger in Barret's eyes and decided it best to not speak of it anymore. "Going to try again? Or want to do a different game?"  
"Dis is about all I can do," Barret said. "I can't snowboard. I _hate_ that damned submarine. You did the two easy ones all ready. It's between this and that stupid moogle game."  
"You can get ten baskets in a row," Dyne said.  
"Yeah, jus' shu'up."

Cecil and Rosa again got off the coaster and waited for their scores. "Cecil & Rosa: 5,910 points."  
" _HA! Who's the bitch now!?_ " Cecil yelled at the nearby attendant.  
"Umm, congratulations, sir," the attendant said.  
Rosa accepted their clue and stuffed a mirror in front of Cecil's face while she read it. "Round Square."  
"Okay, let's go," Cecil said calmly.  
The two quickly got to the Round Square and searched for the Pit Stop, which they found quickly. They ran to the Ghost Square and ran to Gippal.  
"Cecil and Rosa," Gippal said. "You're team number ten!"  
"Thank goodness," Rosa said. She thought for a moment. "I guess thank badness a bit too."

A basketball fell through a hoop and small red and orange lights lit up the small basketball game. Barret nodded and turned to an attendant to get his clue.  
"We gotta search for the damn Pit Stop now," Barret said. "We better hurry."

Biran and Yenke got off the train and looked at their scores. "Biran & Yenke: 5,350 points."  
Biran took the clue and read through it. "Biran and Yenke must hurry," Biran said.  
The two Ronso quickly ran to the Round Square where they got on a shack to survey the Gold Saucer area.  
"There! Yenke sees it!" Yenke shouted. He pointed out the window to a flag at the ghost hotel.

"There!" Dyne pointed happily out the window of his shack.  
"This damn thing needs to let us down," Barret said. He started shaking the shack impatiently.

The first shack parked back at the beginning and the two contestants ran out of the shack and into the tube leading to the Ghost Square. Gippal smiled as the first team emerged and ran to the mat.  
Biran and Yenke stepped forward onto the mat and waited for Gippal.  
"Biran and Yenke," Gippal said. He hesitated briefly, but was interrupted by Barret and Dyne, who popped out of the tube seconds later. "You're obviously not the last team to arrive. You're team number eleven!"  
"Biran is happy," Biran said. "Ronso can be proud of Biran and Yenke still. At least for one more week."  
The Ronso stepped off the mat as Barret and Dyne stepped up.  
"Welcome to the Gold Saucer," Dio said.  
"Barret and Dyne," Gippal said. "You're the last team to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you you've both been eliminated from the race."  
"I knew we shoulda stuck with the damn coaster," Barret said.  
"We would've had it if the race accommodated the handicapped a bit better," Dyne added.  
"Shu'up, Dyne," Barret said. "It ain't the Amazin' Everybody's Equal Race."  
"How was it racing with your old friend?" Gippal asked.  
"He's dumb," Barret said. "We shoulda been in it longer. But I dunno. I never cared much 'bout the money anyway. I'm just disappointed cuz I was gonna get that money for Marlene's schoolin', and cuz I wanted to race longer with this dumb bastard. Nice havin' your old friend around when he ain't friggin' crazy."  
"Yeah, it was fun," Dyne added. "It would've been nice to see more of new worlds as opposed to losing in our own, but it was good to race with my old buddy. Barret and I haven't been able to have fun since we started fighting about the stupid reactors about four years ago. I think now I might just have to take him out for some basketball, cuz this dumbass can't make a basket. Easy win."  
"Hey! I usually play by makin' lay-ups!"  
" _Girls_ make lay-ups. Real men can shoot free throws," Dyne teased.  
"Know what I'm gonna do, Dyne? I'm gonna go out and buy a fatass skirt so when I school you at some hoops you'll have something to wear when you's off cryin'."  
"You buy that skirt. Just make sure it fits you before you get to the courts."  
"Ye- Wh- Jus' shu'up, Dyne!" Barret yelled. He and Dyne walked off the mat and headed into the ghost hotel. Barret leaned his arm on Dyne's shoulder and Dyne patted Barret on the back as the doors of the hotel closed behind them.


	4. Episode 2, Part 1

Gippal walked through a seemingly vacant hotel when a skeleton dropped down by the service desk and two ghosts appeared to play a game of checkers. Gippal walked down a red staircase as he began to address the camera. "I'm standing in the Ghost Square of a magnificent theme park known as The Gold Saucer in the _Fantasy 7_ verse. This park is known for several different events including a play, a roller coaster, chocobo races, and so much more. It is also the first pitstop in a race around worlds. Teams began in the _Fantasy 10_ verseand took one of three spaceship flights to the world where they traveled far -and by many many forms of transportation- to compete in a parade and competition. Then a final transport took them here to the Gold Saucer. Reno and Rude made quick work of the roller coaster, while Ma and Zell made quick work of the arcade games, but Reno and Rude edged them out for a first place victory. In the end, it came down to one detour versus another, and Biran and Yenke beat out Barret and Dyne by mere seconds, leaving Barret and Dyne as the first team eliminated. Can Biran and Yenke make up time and get back into the competition? Will Balthier and Fran regain the lead they lost at the last minute? Reno and Rude, who were the first to arrive at 12:21 pm, will depart at 12:21 am."

[Reno & Rude: Partners, 1st to Depart: 12:21 am]  
Reno tore open the clue as Rude read over his shoulder. "Make your way to the eastern coast and retrieve your transportation and your next clue."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must exit the Gold Saucer and head directly east to the continent's coast. There they will find eleven small airplanes, which have all been broken and can only travel in shallow water by their propellers and wheels. I don't know why we broke eleven capable airplanes, but we did. It was kind of funny. On each of these planes is their next clue."

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st]  
"Okay, guess we'd better get going," Reno said.  
Reno and Rude started to head out when Zell called out to them.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 2nd to Depart: 12:21 am]  
"Hey guys!" Zell yelled. "I don't suppose you'd like to team up to try to stomp out some competition, would you? Maybe we could help each other and get so far ahead that the other teams can't even _try_ to catch up!"  
Reno and Rude looked at each other, then turned their backs to Zell and Ma to hold a private conversation.  
"No?" Reno asked.  
"No," Rude answered.  
The two turned around and Reno gave their answer. "No thanks. But you can follow us to the coast. Follow us any further and we might get pissed, y'know."  
"Thank you, boys!" Ma said. She pulled Zell aside. "I really like these boys. They're so nice."  
"I heard they're ruthless assassins," Zell said quietly.  
"Now Zelly. Don't judge them just because they can't get good jobs like teachers or janitors. Sometimes people just don't have the privileges that we do."  
"Ma? They're leaving."  
"Oh, right. Let's follow them."  
Ma and Zell followed Reno and Rude through the pipe labeled "Station," which led them to the main entrance. Then all four ran out to the same area the airships had parked before. Now there was a large bus-like object with propellers on the sides and a large sliding door on one side. The bus was suspended by two strong cables above it.  
The two Turks ran to the bus and jumped inside with Ma and Zell right behind them. Within a few seconds, the door slid shut and the two propellers began spinning and pushed the bus out of the station and down the long cables. It finally reached a rundown station at the bottom. Broken, rotten wood made up the platform where the bus finally slowed to a stop. The four racers ran down a staircase leading away from the platform into a more depressing area. A bunch of smelly people in unclean clothes sat around a fire, huddled for warmth in the center of a town composed almost exclusively of tents and shops built from broken road signs.  
"North Corel," Reno informed Ma and Zell. "Those two racers that were cut -Barret and Dyne- I'm pretty sure they were from here."  
"We should've let them win," Ma said. "This is horrible."  
"Let... win?" Reno looked at Rude for clarification, but only received a shrug. "Sounds dumb. Now c'mon! You said something about a 'lead' that I really enjoyed and don't want to lose."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, 3rd to Depart: 12:25 am]  
"Make your way to the eastern coast," Fran read.  
"Let's get a move on, shall we?" Balthier said.  
The pair ran through the Gold Saucer and headed down the rope-way bus to North Corel. They reached the bottom and ran through the dark town and passed through an area illuminated by a trashcan fire. They stopped running and looked around at the poverty-stricken town and walked the rest of the way to the town's exit.  
"Depressing," Fran said to Balthier as they again resumed their jog for the coast. Balthier only nodded and continued on silently.

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, 4th to Depart: 12:31 am]  
"Are you ready?" Freya asked Fratley.  
"I think so," Fratley responded. He hiked his backpack up higher onto his shoulders. He ripped open his clue and read it aloud.  
"Let's begin," Freya said. She kissed Fratley on the cheek before the pair ran toward their next destination.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, 5th to Depart: 12:41 am]  
"How's the stomach?" Watts asked Zone. His partner was again on the floor, though he was already beginning to stand back up.  
"It's really the stomach this time," he responded. He put his backpack on and read over Watts shoulder as Watts read the clue. "At least we're not immediately next to any other teams. I like running my own race. Other racers just scare me."  
"Definitely. I'm hoping those furry blue guys get cut next. They scared me almost as much as the two that were cut last time."  
Zone nodded. Watts and Zone put their clue away and headed out toward the coast.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place]  
[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Reno and Rude reached the shore and found the small airplanes sitting in the water. Water came up to the bottom of their wings and the propellers dipped halfway into the water. Reno ran onto the nearest plane and sat on a wing beside some external controls.  
Rude joined him but sat closer to the opposite wing. He ripped the clue from a small package beside the controls and read it aloud. "Travel to the Temple of the Ancients."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to a lost temple known as the Temple of the Ancients. The real temple was destroyed, but a replica was erected to remind locals of the near devastation of their world. It is located on a distant island, but there is a small, distinct path of shallow water that their planes will be able to follow to reach it, but that path may be hard to find."

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place]  
[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"No more following us, okay?" Reno yelled to Ma and Zell.  
"Okay!" Zell yelled back from the shore. He and Ma boarded another plane in a similar manner and watched as the Turks turned on their plane. The Turks' plane's propellers started to spin slowly and push the plane through the water.  
"Ready?" Ma asked Zell as she manned the controls.  
"Fire it up, Ma," he replied.  
Ma hit the giant button labeled "Start" and the plane began to shake. Without warning, the plane jolted forward. Zell grabbed onto the wing but failed to notice his mother fall completely off the wing and into the water.  
"Ma!" Zell shouted. He quickly ran to the controls and hit the large "Stop" button, fearing the propellers spinning in the water with his mother.  
Ma surfaced and spit a stream of water from her mouth. Zell sighed with relief and helped his mom back onto the plane. "Thank you, Zelly. Sorry for slowing you down."  
"I'm just glad you're okay, Ma," Zell responded. "I _think_ I'll take the controls from here though."  
"Then I think I'll just hold onto something," Ma said with a smile. "Go fast, Zelly. I need to dry off."  
"I don't think these go fast, but I'll give it my best." Zell fired up the plane and navigated it off the coast and into the shallow waters of the world.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, 6th to Depart: 12:45 am]  
Dona ripped open the clue and read it to Barthello. "That isn't too complicated for you, is it?"  
"No," Barthello replied.  
"Good, then maybe you can get us there in _first_ this time. Come, Barthello."  
Dona started to run to the next destination, when Barthello suddenly grabbed her and spun her around. She nearly collided with his chest, then looked up at him.  
"It's this way," Barthello said. He gestured toward the tube labeled 'Station'.  
Dona sighed. "It's about time you pulled your weight." The two both ran to the Station tube and headed for the coast.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 7th to Depart: 12: 48 am]  
Reina read through the clue as Faris held out Reina's pink, unicorn-shaped hiking backpack to her.  
"East is the 'E'!" Reina said happily as she took her backpack.  
"Indeed it is," Faris said. She handed Reina the compass in her pocket. "Be ye prepared to use this?"  
"You trust me with it? Already? Even after last time?"  
"Aye. I know yeh to be a quick learner. It's best ye learn this now whilst we be ahead of some teams, else we be findin' ourselves on the danger-side of the elimination mat."  
"Thank you, Faris!" Reina said. She smiled and took the compass. She adjusted it and pointed to her left. "That way is east! Let's go there!" Faris looked over her shoulder at the compass. She smirked and reached over her shoulder to adjust it slightly. Reina looked at the adjustment and smiled. "Oh. Oops."  
"Tis okay. Let us just exit this world of lights in the sky and get to me home in the water."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Fran and Balthier ran to the planes in the water and boarded the nearest one from the backside.  
"I don't suppose we're allowed to fix these and fly them," Balthier said.  
"It would probably be a penalty we would not want to incur," Fran said.  
"I guess some days sky pirates have to be sea pirates." Balthier took the controls and began driving the plane through the shallow waters.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, 8th to Depart: 12:54 am]  
"Can you believe it, dearie?" Brahne asked Garnet. "We were not eliminated! Not only that, but we're eighth! We can win this race!"  
"I love your optimism," Garnet said. She read the clue aloud. "We have to get going."  
"Should we wait for our friends?" Brahne asked. "They're only slightly behind us."  
"Oh, yes. We'll wait for Cid and Celes before departing. I wouldn't want to destroy the anti-cute guy alliance."

-{Brahne & Garnet: Interview}-

Brahne and Garnet faced the camera for a post-leg interview.  
"We started an alliance in the last leg," Garnet informed the camera. "Ourselves and Celes and Cid were tricked by Balthier and found ourselves on the last flight to _Fantasy 7_. We would have also included Dona and Barthello in our alliance, but they ignored Balthier, while Celes and I fell victim to his plot. Also I doubt they would join up with us anyway."  
"We don't need them anyway," Brahne added. "We don't need anybody! We will prevail and show that scrawny pretty boy our might!"

-{End Interview}-

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 4th Place]  
Freya and Fratley reached the broken airplanes and boarded the nearest one. Fratley took the controls and Freya spread a map out on the roof of the plane to navigate. She held it down firmly by the corners to keep it from blowing away.

[Celes & Cid: Subject/Researcher, 9th to Depart: 12:59 am]  
Cid ripped open the clue and read it aloud. Celes spotted Brahne easily and the four quickly grouped up.  
"Know where we're going?" Celes asked Garnet.  
"We at least know the way out of this place," Garnet said. "I'm assuming besides that it's just east."  
"More than we know, thanks," Cid said.  
The foursome walked to the exit of the Gold Saucer and took the rope-way bus to the ground before heading due east.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 5th Place]  
Zone and Watts reached the coast just moments before Dona and Barthello. Zone quickly boarded the back of the broken airplane and looked back at Dona.  
"Oh man, competition," Zone said. He cringed and sat on the plane while Watts boarded and took the controls.  
"Just try not to fall off," Watts said. "Some navigation help would be nice too."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 6th Place]  
"This is stupid." Dona looked at the broken planes. "We have to ride around in not only forbidden machina, but _broken_ machina?"  
"Seems challenging," Barthello said. "I look forward to it."  
"Well you can look forward to _driving_ it then. _I_ want nothing to do with it."  
Dona stepped onto the airplane and laid on the starboard wing. Barthello boarded and took up the controls, leading their plane out to the shallow sea.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 7th Place]  
"Home sweet home," Faris said as she reached the coast. She ran into the water until it reached her knees, then she bent down and kissed the water.  
"I'm navigator again!" Reina said happily as she boarded the plane.  
"Aye, and I'll steer us into the mighty blue."  
Faris took a few moments to figure out the controls, then fired up the plane and led it into the shallow waters.

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, 10th to Depart: 1:07 am]  
Rosa ripped open the clue and read it to Cecil. Cecil seemed a bit distraught.  
"I'm sorry," Rosa said. "I know you aren't happy when I abuse your dark side."  
"I'm just trying to get rid of that side of me," Cecil said. "For you."  
"I know. I just want to win is all."  
"I'll win for you, too," Cecil said. He put his arm around Rosa and led her through the Gold Saucer.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Not exactly a direct route, is there?" Reno asked.  
"Guess not," Rude replied. He looked down at the map over the top of his sunglasses, which he still wore despite the darkness.  
"It'd help a lot if we could just fly. I don't quite understand this whole 'broken airplane' thing."  
"For a challenge I'd assume."  
"It's not a challenge, though," Reno said. "It's just annoying really. Follow the shallow water marked on this map closely and get to that old temple. Seems easy enough to me."  
Without warning, the airplane lurched and leaned sharply to the right. The Turks quickly grabbed onto something firm and stayed atop the plane, but their backpacks slid quickly down the wing and slid into the ocean where they both released a few air bubbles before sinking straight down.  
"Oh crap," Reno said. "Our stuff is- Well, whatever. I didn't bring anything important anyway. Did you?"  
"Toothpaste," Rude said.  
"I'll buy you some more. I think I drove us too close to deep water and hit a drop-off point. Let's just forget the packs and go on, okay?"  
Reno pushed the start button, but it would not respond with one of the propeller engines completely submerged. Reno tried it again, only to this time be attacked by sparks. "Yikes! The hell's going on?"  
"I think I'll look for our bags," Rude said. He took his sunglasses off and dove into the water after their bags.  
Reno shrugged. "Whatever." He dove in as well and started searching the deep, dark waters of the ocean.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Last to Depart: 1:18 am]  
"Biran and Yenke need to do better for all Ronso," Yenke said. He ripped open the clue and read it to Biran.  
"Biran will race good," Biran said. "Yenke should too. Biran is doing well. Yenke is dead weight."  
The Ronso duo raced out of the Gold Saucer and headed for the coast.

[Celes & Cid: Subject/Researcher, Currently in 8th Place]  
[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 9th Place]  
The four racers found their airplanes resting in the ocean and quickly boarded them. Celes and Cid took an early lead out to sea while Brahne and Garnet struggled to keep their airplane balanced. Finally Brahne just took the center of the plane.  
"Just keep your lights on us," Celes said. "We'll get us there. Don't worry. If you have problems steering, just honk or something."  
"Does this have a horn?" Garnet asked. "I thought the driver's training said only cars had them."  
"Well just make her make a lot of noise then," Cid said with a gesture toward Brahne.  
"I will, sugar!" Brahne said. She waved at Cid. "I won't let my daughter lose track of _you._ "  
"Gag," Garnet said.  
"I'll second that," Celes added.

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in 10th Place]  
Cecil and Rosa reached the coast and boarded their plane. Rosa took the controls and Cecil stood on the front of the ship. He struggled to see out into the waters, but in the darkness he could barely see anything.  
"This will be difficult," Cecil said. "I never liked flying on the airships at night. This isn't much different."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son]  
"Is that-" Zell looked out into the water and pointed one of their large lights at Reno and Rude's airplane floating in the darkness, illuminated by its own lights reflecting on the waters surrounding it.  
"I think we have the lead now," Ma said. "Hooray!"  
"Hooray for now," Zell said. "Take the small victories, Ma. I think things are going to get worse."  
"No way. We'll be just fine. Now let's not screw up and soon enough we'll be shaking Gippal's hand and taking a big fat juicy check for a billion smackers."  
"Did you even watch the first season?" Zell asked. "There was no handshake, no billion sm-"  
"Oh hush, you. I was joking."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters]  
"Faris?" Reina asked. She looked long and hard at the map and at the compass. "I may be wrong, but is this a shortcut if we go right here?"  
Faris looked at the map with her. "I... Aye. I believe it are."  
"Yay! I've figured out the compass!"  
Faris jammed on the controls and twisted the ship to the right down a narrow patch of shallow water. "Leviathan be with us. We need ye."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates]  
Balthier slowed their plane to a stop and rose up from the controls. He joined Fran in looking out into the vast blue ocean. In the distance was a small island, but it was hard to make out anything aside from a patch of trees on the inland.  
"You're _sure_ we can't fix it," Balthier asked Fran.  
"Positive," she replied.  
"Drat. I know now why I stick to the skies. You can soar right over obstacles." Balthier looked down at the water beneath the nose of the plane, which drastically changed from the shallow, light blue waters into the dark blue, deep ocean water. "Direct route is out. Where to try next?"  
"I think we have to go all the way north," Fran said, not bothering to look up from the map her nose was buried in. "Then it finally loops around back down."  
"I could've sworn I saw a shorter route. Well, to the north then."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place]  
Biran and Yenke found the coast and boarded the remaining plane. Biran immediately grabbed the controls and waited for his partner to instruct him.  
"Where should Biran go!?" Biran yelled impatiently.  
"Yenke is learning," Yenke responded. He stared at the map for a large amount of time before finally giving an instruction in the form of a finger pointing up. "Go up."  
"Biran cannot _go_ up! Up is sky! Yenke is retarded."  
"Up on _compass_ ," Yenke corrected.  
"Oh, up on _compass_." Biran fired up the engine and the plane began scooting its way north.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
"There there!" Ma shouted happily.  
Zell piloted their plane onto a nearby coast before he and Ma leapt off the roof of the plane and into the shallow water. They stomped through the water and onto the coast where they saw a large temple shrouded in trees just slightly inland.  
"It's _gotta_ be it," Zell said.  
Ma and Zell jogged through the forest to the temple entrance, where a red and yellow flagged sign pointed them around to the back. They followed a few small arrows and found a small iron door. The door was strapped up with chains like a mental patient in a straightjacket. For some reason, it seemed like this back door was not meant to be entered. The more depressing part about this door for Ma and Zell was the yellow sign on the door reading 'Hours of Operation: 7:00 am to 5:00 pm'.  
"But!" Zell shouted at the sign. "Aww, man! We're in first, too!"  
"Let's just use this as a chance to rest," Ma said.  
"But I don't _want_ to rest! I'm ready to race! The waterplane was rest enough! Can't we like, break the door down or something?"  
"Now Zelly, no whining. I didn't raise you like that."  
"Yes, you did!"  
"Well calm down, you're giving mommy a headache," Ma said. "Let's just position ourselves at the very front of the door so nobody else can pass."  
"And so nobody can see what time this opens so they won't know how to prepare. Good idea!"  
"I don't think they'll be too surprised," Ma said. "Somebody is going to have to open all these padlocked chains."  
"Oh. Yeah. Dangit, Why us?"

[Reno & Rude: Partners]  
"That should do it," Reno said as he rose out of the water. He climbed up to a wing and sat on the corner.  
Rude sat on top of the plane with his and Reno's wet backpacks on either side of him. He moved to the controls and fired up the plane. The propellers spun around and the plane lurched violently before moving forward at its normal pace.  
"What'd you do?" Rude asked.  
"Just moved a few big rocks under the wheel," Reno said. "I think we just hit a big patch of loose sand. It was like having your wheels stuck in mud, y'know."  
"Good. We can start winning again."  
"You always did know the right things to say to me," Reno said with a smile.

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Freya and Fratley reached the shore and parked beside Ma and Zell's planes. They left their backpacks on the plane and ran through the forest to the back entrance, where they were surprised to see Ma and Zell.  
"You two?" Freya asked.  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zell asked.  
"I- I'm sorry," Freya said. "I did not mean to sound harsh. It's only that I expected those suited men with sunglasses. Or possibly the woman with the long ears and her partner."  
"Honestly, we did too," Ma said. "I wonder what happened."  
"Perhaps it was one of them that had broken down in the water," Fratley said. "It was so hard to see-"  
"Yes, it was the sunglasses boys," Ma said. "We were slightly behind them when something left them stranded."  
"I pray for their safety," Freya said.  
"Did I pray before I lost my memory?" Fratley asked Freya. She nodded. "Oh. Then I shall pray as well."  
"Yeah, I hope they're safe," Zell said. "But I _do_ hope that they're also kidnapped by a local tribe of natives and held hostage until the race is over. Safely held hostage, I mean. I just have the feeling they're going to beat us all with both legs tied behind their backs."  
"We'll see," Freya said with a smile. "Good luck, when we get inside."  
"You too," Ma responded.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters]  
"We did it," Zone said. "Piece of cake." He and Watts jumped off the plane, which had just parked beside two other planes.  
"You really do work best when nobody is looking," Watts said. "Let's- uh oh."  
"Uh oh?" Zone looked around frantically until he saw the 'uh-oh'. "Oh. Uh oh. Not only other racers but... Women."  
"Let's get to the temple, fast!" Watts led Zone through the forest and to the temple's backdoor.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters]  
"Perfect route," Faris commended her sister as they pulled up alongside the three parked planes on the coast.  
"Nice sailing," Reina said. "Despite the lack of sails."  
"Aye. I be doin' a lot of sailing without wind these days."  
They quickly disembarked and joined the other three teams in waiting for the temple to open.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian]  
"I can't see a thing," Dona said. She was laying on the wing of their ship as Barthello tried to pilot and navigate for them both. The sun was beginning to brighten up the horizon, but the unlit ocean was still a dark, dangerous place. Dona, carefree as she appeared, still clutched tightly onto the ship every time a wave rocked them more than usual.  
"I think we're almost there," Barthello responded. He juggled the map and the controls until they suddenly and violently collided with the beach. Luckily they did not hit any of the other planes parked on the beach, but unluckily, Dona didn't expect it in the slightest and shot off the wing and landed in the wet sands below.  
Barthello immediately turned off the plane and jumped down to the beach. He ran over to Dona and picked her up off the ground and cradled her in his arms. "Dona! Dona! Are you okay?"  
"Are you an _idiot_!?" she replied harshly. She jumped out of his grasp and dusted herself off. She spat sand out of her mouth and straightened her clothes.  
"Well, we are here," Barthello said. He pointed to the temple, which had several spotlights shining on it.  
"I don't care, this is disgusting." Dona walked off toward the temple angrily.  
Barthello just sighed and looked out into the water, where two large lights shined brightly. They came straight at Barthello one at a time. As they got closer, Barthello could make out the two planes approaching and their occupants: Cid and Celes, and Brahne and Garnet. The two planes slid into the coast and clicked off their lights. Barthello approached Cid and Celes cautiously.  
"Excuse me," he said to them. "I did not realize we had lights on the planes. Would you mind telling me where they are? In case I need them in the future."  
"You made it all the way here without _lights_!?" Celes asked. "That's really incredible."  
"I'm fairly good in the dark, but light is always helpful you see."  
"Just to the left of the steering controls," Cid said with a nod. "Can't miss 'em."  
"I actually, well, did," Barthello responded. "But thank you."  
"Oh. Right. No problem."  
"I have to go now, my summoner is going to kill me already. Being late will just make her kill me more."  
"Good luck!" Garnet yelled from her ship, which Brahne was parking. Poorly.  
Barthello ran ahead and joined Dona, while Brahne and Garnet finally hopped off the plane, only to find the plane was not properly parked and anchored. It slowly began drifting back out to sea.  
"No no no no no no no!" Brahne shouted at the plane. She ran after it and grabbed the landing gear and successfully stopped the plane from floating further out into the sea. "Garnet, sweetheart? Be a dear and drive the aircraft in more."  
"Go on ahead," Garnet said to Cid and Celes. They nodded and headed to the temple, while Garnet boarded their plane and helped her mother to re-park it.

[Cecil & Rosa: Married]  
"I see it, darling," Cecil said to Rosa. "Continue this course." Cecil continued to stand on the front of the plane and navigate for Rosa. "Slow down, you're coming up on the shore."  
Rosa guided the plane onto the coast and parked it. Cecil leapt off and held his arms out for Rosa to jump to him, which she did. "Ouch," she said upon impact with Cecil.  
"I'm sorry, dear, did I catch you wrong?"  
"Not at all, but you're wearing armor," Rosa said. She stood on her own and rubbed her shoulder. "Thank you for the gesture, though. Perhaps you should change out of your armor for future challenges though?"  
"Perhaps," Cecil said. "Ready?"  
Rosa nodded. She and Cecil jogged toward the brightly lit temple and joined the rest of the group in waiting for the door to open.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates]  
"There we are," Balthier said. The plane pulled into the coast alongside the other eight other planes. "I think we're a bit behind the pack right now."  
"Then we shouldn't waste time talking," Fran said. She leapt off the plane and sprinted toward the temple.  
"She _knows_ I can't keep up with her," Balthier said to himself. He jogged after her toward the temple.

[Reno & Rude: Partners]  
Reno and Rude reached the coast and parked their plane, then ran through the forest to join the others, only to find them all sitting around in a line. Zell and Ma stood firmly in front of the door, blocking everyone's view of the official hours of operation.  
"Oh good, we're not screwed," Reno said. "When's this baby open?"  
"Seven," Cid said.  
"Nuh uh!" Zell said. "Now stop guessing already. You'll know it when it opens!"  
"It's seven," Cid whispered to Reno. "I saw it when he stretched his legs out."  
"Oh, seven," Reno said. "Then I guess this is like a new beginning."  
"Only without my- my," Brahne began to sob.  
"Only without our competition, she means to say," Garnet added. "Actually, I don't believe she means that at all, but she really should."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades]  
Biran and Yenke rode their poorly piloted plane through the shallow waters toward the temple. The plane continuously lurched from Biran's bad driving.  
"Biran making Yenke sick," Yenke said.  
"If Yenke blows chunks near Biran, Biran will _skin_ Yenke," Biran said. "Yenke would be wise to throw up in water."  
"Fine! Yenke _will_ then!" Yenke walked to the front of the plane, when suddenly there was a small _bang_ on the right side of the plane from under the wing, followed immediately by a horrible screeching noise as the right engine exploded and sent the propeller whizzing across the front of the plane and disappeared from sight somewhere to their left.  
Both Ronso were slack jawed at the sight. The plane bobbed up and down from the waves. The engines were dead so the plane stood no chance of moving. Yenke pointed to the front of the plane where a large gash made by the propeller glistened in the sun.  
"Yenke was going to put his head there," Yenke said.  
"Yenke would've been... hornless," Biran said.  
"Yenke would've been _headless_ ," Yenke corrected him.


	5. Episode 2, Part 2

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades: Currently in Last Place]  
Biran and Yenke continued to stare at the waves made by their broken plane bobbing on the rough waves of the ocean. They both relaxed and watched the sunrise over some distant hills, though both were on opposite wings of the plane, just to ensure that it was in no way romantic.  
"Biran is angry," Biran said. "Biran want to win, but hornless plane does not work."  
"Biran and Yenke _will_ win," Yenke told him. "Ronso strong. Puny plane cannot stop Ronso."  
"Yenke is right. Biran will just _crush_ other teams. But what we do now? Plane does not move. Swim?"  
"Hornless, hairless cameraman cannot swim and film."  
"Why does cameraman not have hair on his head?" Biran laughed and pointed at the camera. "Biran has hair on whole body! Camera-friend cannot make hair!"  
The two Ronso continued to laugh at the cameraman as a second airplane pulled up beside the two Ronso. Instead of boarding, the Ronso continued to laugh at the cameraman.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"If a team's vehicle breaks down through no fault of their own or otherwise becomes inoperable, they may request a replacement vehicle without receiving a time penalty. However, no time credit is given for their wait in this unlucky situation."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades: Currently in Last Place]  
Biran and Yenke finally crossed over to the new plane and fired it up. Both Ronso laughed proudly and resumed their quest for the temple.

[7:00 am: Temple of the Ancients]  
The ten teams continued to wait in line at the back entrance to the Temple of the Ancients, when suddenly the chains covering the door began to glow a bright bluish green color. The teams near the door stepped back, while several other teams that were seated rose up and picked up their possessions. The chains finally stopped glowing, then fell to the floor. The door swung open and the teams ran in with Zell and Ma leading the pack.  
The room was long and rectangular. The floors and walls were brick, but covered by dust and dirt. At the end of the long hallway was a clue box sitting in the corner.  
Ma was the first to the clue box. She reached in and pulled out the clue, and then went to the opposite corner to read it with Zell. She ripped open the clue and pulled out a yellow 'Detour' card. "Detour, Ten o' Clock or Six o' Clock?"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. For both detours, teams will travel into the next room where a large clock awaits them. They will make the clock's hands face themselves, at twelve o' clock, and the detour they have chosen, then they'll follow the hands to their chosen detour.  
"In Ten o' Clock, teams will travel through the 'X' door and find a long hallway. Their task is simply navigate remote controlled cars to the other end of the hallway. However, large cement cylinders will roll down the path and crush their cars. Luckily, on one a side of the cylinder is a long cavity that the RC cars, if timed right, can hide in and avoid being crushed. Teams can follow their cars along a small, protected area to the side so they can see their car's progress. The task is fairly straightforward and teams with good timing could finish quickly, but if their car is destroyed, they must restart, which could take a long time.  
"In Six o' Clock, teams will travel through the 'VI' door and proceed to a chamber with many paintings on the walls. Inside the room are several podiums with a list of questions on them. Teams must answer the questions by finding clues around the room in the murals and texts on the walls. After answering five questions correctly, they will receive their next clue. The task is not difficult, but finding the answers to some of the questions could take a long time."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
"What should we do, Ma?" Zell asked. "I'm pretty good with a car, but I think you have to drive one too. Can you do it?"  
"I think we'd have better luck than if we kept you away from anything involving thinking," Ma said with a chuckle.  
"Okay, Ten o' Clock then," Zell said. He thought for a moment. "Wait, what?"  
"Hurry, Zelly!"  
Ma and Zell quickly jumped out through the door, barely edging out Reno and Rude, and approached the clock. The room was fairly cryptic. It was a giant abyss with a large clockface as their floor with doors all around as each of the clock's numbers. The clock's hands sat at three o' clock, with one hand facing Zell and Ma's feet and the other facing the door labeled "III". To Zell's left was a small control panel to the clock with buttons reading _Hour_ and _Minute_ and _Random_. Zell pushed the hand reading _Hour_ and watched as the hand facing their feet shifted away and now faced the "I" door.  
"Dangit, wrong way," Zell said. "Why doesn't this have an undo button?"  
"Don't worry, Zelly. We're in first I think, so they all have to wait for us anyway," Ma informed Zell.  
"Good point, Ma. But I want to keep our lead on the team that hasn't shown up yet."  
"Aww, you're such a smartie!"

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Reno and Rude waited behind Zell and Ma for their turn at the clock. Reno tapped his foot impatiently while Rude stood completely still with his arms folded across his chest.  
"What should we do?" Reno asked Rude.  
"The cars," Rude responded.  
"Good idea!" Reno said. "I was thinking the same thing! You're such a smartie!"  
"Oh come on, boys," Ma said over her shoulder. "Mockery will get you nowhere."  
"Oh yes ma'am, sorry ma'am," Reno said. "I didn't mean to mock you though. My partner here, he really _is_ a smartie."  
"He does seem like it," Ma said.  
Zell finally aligned the minute hand to Ten o' Clock and the hour hand to their position at twelve o' clock and waved for Ma to follow him. Ma smiled and walked carefully behind the less-careful Zell along the hour and minute hands and into the next room.  
Before Reno and Rude could follow, the hands spun around wildly and returned to pointing to twelve and three.  
"No freebie for us I guess," Reno said.  
Rude nodded and manned the controls for the minute hand.

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Cecil and Rosa waited behind Reno and Rude and continued to read their clue.  
"Looks like it was a good idea to lineup," Cecil said. "Looks like we all have saved some time and everybody else is behind us now. Good idea, darling. Thank you."  
Rosa looked behind her as other teams followed Reno and Rude and Cecil and Rosa's examples and stopped reading their clues in order to gain a better position in line. "You're welcome, sweetheart. So which should we do? Ten or six?"  
"Six for sure," Cecil said. "I'm not wonderful with technology. That was always Cid's department."  
"Agreed."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 4th Place]  
"Seems we've lost our edge," Balthier said. "How did all these other people line up before us?"  
" _They_ did not have to run around that large blue woman," Fran said.  
"That _was_ a setback," he trailed off. "So then, what detour? The cars?"  
"Yes, I think Ten o' Clock would be best."  
"All right. All we have to do now is wait then."

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 5th Place]  
"I think Six o' Clock," Freya said. "Do you?"  
"I'm not so sure," Fratley said.  
Freya sighed. "The _old_ Fratley would have agreed."  
"Oh, okay. Then yes, Six o' Clock sounds perfect."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 6th Place]  
"I can navigate any vessel through any conditions," Faris said. "But how're yer abilities?"  
"Six would be better suited for me, but let's give Ten o' Clock a try," Reina said.  
"Okay, but be decidin' quickly if we're to change detours."  
"I will."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 7th Place]  
"Cars," Zone said.  
"Cars," Watts confirmed.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 8th Place]  
"These are our _only_ two choices?" Dona whined to Barthello. "Ugh. Let's do the Six o' Clock one and be done with this horrible place."  
Barthello nodded.

[Celes & Cid: Subject/Researcher, Currently in 9th Place]  
[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 10th Place]  
Celes and Cid looked back to Brahne and Garnet as they all decided what detour to do.  
"I'd prefer the cars," Cid said. "But I'm guessing Six o' Clock is more suited for us."  
"I would also like the cars," Brahne said. "Reading and looking at pictures... Dreadful! I feel the need. The need, for speed."  
"Woman after my own heart."  
"Do I have it yet?" Brahne paired her question with a wink.  
"I-" Cid paused and was interrupted by a loud banging sound behind them.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place]  
Biran and Yenke stood by the open backdoor at the Temple of the Ancients, having just kicked the door open and sent it slamming into the wall.  
"Biran is back in the race," Biran said. He pointed to the clue box and Yenke quickly ran to fetch their clue.  
Yenke brought back the clue and ripped it open. "Detour: Ten o' Clock or Six o' Clock."  
The two Ronso seemed to take an eternity to read the clue.  
"Is Yenke done reading?" Biran asked.  
"Not yet," Yenke replied.  
"Is Yenke _done_ yet!?"  
"Of course Yenke is done! Yenke has been done for ages. Yenke thinks we should do whatever the first one says."  
"Biran agrees. Biran wants to show pitiful hornless humans that Ronso can use hornless machina."  
"Stupid broken water-plane was not Ronso fault," Yenke said.

Zell and Ma reached the long stone hallway and found a pair of remote controlled cars with remotes sitting on top of them. The main hall was very wide in order to compensate for the large stone cylinders rolling down the path in an endless cycle. They were shaped like large 'C's because of the large cavity on one side and the hollow center.  
Beside the path of doom was a long corridor of stucco walls, giant pane-glass windows facing the path of doom, and wooden floors. The path did not match the scheme of the rest of the temple.  
Zell grabbed a pair of RC cars and their respective controllers and moved the cars to the starting line. He returned to Ma and handed her a controller. The two entered the unmatched side path, which was marked by red and yellow flags. From the first window they could clearly see their cars on the starting line.  
"Okay, the controls look pretty simple, Ma," Zell explained. "I think this tiny wheel that looks like a steering wheel is the steering wheel. In fact, I'm pretty confident in that. Then the button down by your trigger finger is the gas. Push it in to gas, release to brake."  
"Looks fun," Ma said enthusiastically. "Ready set go!"  
Zell and Ma's cars started whizzing forward, but in exactly 1.2 seconds a giant stone pillar rolled over them and crushed them to bits.  
"Oh poopie," Ma said.  
"I think this might be harder than we thought," Zell said.

"Oh good, haven't missed anything!" Reno said as he and Rude joined Zell and Ma in grabbing more RC cars and placing them on the starting line.  
"Zelly, you should show these boys how to operate the cars," Ma instructed Zell.  
"Oh no, it's okay." Reno looked down at the simplistic controls and back to Ma. "I think we've got it covered."  
The four waited in the room and sent their cars racing down the path. All four suddenly stopped and started easing forward to line up with the long cavity.  
"Easy enough," Reno bragged.

Brahne and Garnet sat with Celes and Cid to chat while waiting in the long line for the clock.  
"And that's how I started re-learning how to summon eidolons with Ramuh's help," Garnet explained to the group. "From there it was easy to remember how to summon. Shiva, Ifrit, even Bahamut!"  
"That's amazing!" Cid said.  
"Oh get over yourself, little girl," Dona butted into the conversation.  
"Eavesdropping much?" Celes said to Dona.  
"I'm just very receptive to somebody _bragging_ so loudly about measly little accomplishments. _I_ can summon, but you don't hear me bragging about it on national television."  
"Summoners all special," Biran said, inviting himself to the conversation as well.  
"Ronso help summoners on their quest," Yenke added.  
"Dona is summoner. Dona is special. New girl is summoner. She special too."  
"I'm Garnet," Garnet introduced herself to the helpful Ronso.  
"And it _is_ something to brag about," Brahne said. "She is a _very special_ summoner. Why, when her father and I took the poor child in, that evil husband of mine had her little summoner's horn removed, and yet she was _still_ able to summon."  
Biran immediately backhanded Yenke in the chest. "She- But she is summoner."  
"Biran. She is _hornless_ ," Yenke added.  
"Biran does not know what to think. Biran is confused. Summoner... Hornless? Is summoner... Ronso?"  
"Is summoner... Kimahri?" Yenke was quickly backhanded by Biran for his suggestion.  
"Hornless summoner girl is _not_ Kimahri. Stupid Yenke!"  
"Oh god," Dona said. "At least the Ronso will distract them and not _me._ Barthello, are we next yet?"  
"Not yet," Barthello said. "Cecil and Rosa only got through about twenty seconds ago."

Cecil and Rosa ran through the 'VI' door and were met by three large dirt steps leading downward. Far to their right was a large door with a yellow and red flag above it. Cecil pointed to the door and guided Rosa inside where large pictures were drawn in a gold colored room. The biggest mural was of a large meteor about to crash into a populated countryside.  
The pair made their way to a podium with a small model of the temple itself floating inches above the podium. The podium suddenly began to speak to them. "Question number one: This temple houses the ultimate materia. What color is that materia?"  
"What's a materia?" Cecil asked. Rosa shrugged. "We'd better find out though. Let us search the walls."

Fran and Balthier entered the 'X' door and jogged over to pick up their cars. Then they headed into the marked hallway with the other racers where Reno was currently cursing his car.  
"Okay, I hate this," Reno muttered to Rude. "I can't see crap around this pillar!" Reno gestured to a pillar outside the marked hallway that was visually obstructive to part of the course.  
"I'm with you," Zell said. "It's really hard to see with the pillars and those stone things rolling over our cars. I think I could run this path like an obstacle course easily, but getting this little car is friggin impossible!"  
"Guess that puts us in the lead," Balthier said as he and Fran entered the marked hallway with their cars as the other two teams went to grab more cars.  
"You won't be," Zell said. "It's tough. It takes you a long time to get the hang of it."  
"I'm sure," Balthier said. His car quickly navigated into the cavity of the first rolling pillar and continued on. "Beginner's luck I guess."  
Zell cursed under his breath and punched a nearby wall before grabbing his RC car and racing back inside the marked hallway.

Freya and Fratley entered the mural room and quickly found their own podium. Before activating it, they watched Cecil and Rosa return to their podium and start writing something down.  
"I believe eaves-dropping will only hinder us," Fratley said quietly to Freya.  
"It always does," Freya replied. "Shall we begin then?"  
"Question number one," the podium said. "This temple houses the ultimate materia. What color is that materia."

"I got mixed messages," Cecil whispered to Rosa. "Are you _sure_ it's black? I also read something about dark materia."  
"Dark isn't a color, sweetheart," Rosa said.  
" _My soul is dark,_ " Cecil muttered to himself.  
Rosa pushed a button beside the mini-temple. Their answer suddenly disappeared from the page and a light beside a label reading "Question 1" turned green.  
"Wonderful job, Rosa my love," Cecil said.  
"Question number two: Who built this temple?" the podium asked.

"Everybody is still here," Reina noted as they entered the room with the RC cars. "That scares me."  
"Aye, me too," Faris said. "But this is just the sea's way of washing the other ships aside so ours may sail in front."  
"That's really strange," Reina said. She ran over and grabbed a couple RC cars and placed them on the starting line.

"Yes!" Zell shouted as his car passed over the finish line. "Just waiting for you now, Ma!"  
"You may be waiting a while," Ma responded. "My car just got crunched."  
"Aww, Ma. I told you to take it slow!"  
"Well _somebody_ scared me when he started yelling about his car."  
"Oh. Sorry, Ma."  
"It's okay, Zelly." Ma walked out of the marked hallway and over to the stash of cars, just as Zone and Watts entered the room and began searching for cars of their own. "Oh, hello boys!"  
"Hiya," Watts said. "How is it?"  
"Hard," she responded.  
"Love it. Should give us an edge."  
"How so?" Ma asked as she placed her car on the starting line. Zone squeezed in behind her and added their two cars as well.  
"Basically all we _do_ is play with toys like these," Watts said. "In fact, I know this exact brand of RC car."  
"Ooh, that should make you two _very_ happy campers. Just try not to beat me too bad. Eat my dust and all that." Ma smiled at her use of her hip, trash-talking vocabulary and headed back to the marked hallway.

Dona and Barthello entered the mural room and saw Cecil and Rosa reading a text on a nearby wall while Freya and Fratley observed the mural on the wall.  
"This looks _boring_ ," Dona whined. "Is the whole race going to be this _dull_?"  
"Please, Dona. I really like this show," Barthello responded. "Can we... Can we work together to win? Or at least stay in longer?"  
"Fine," Dona said. "Lead the way, Mr. Takes Control."

Celes and Cid finished controlling the clock and walked across the minute hand to the 'X' marked door.  
Cid looked back to Brahne and Garnet. "Good luck you two. We can't wait for you long, especially since we're bringing up the back of the pack."  
"It's okay," Garnet shouted back. "Good luck to you too!"  
Cid and Celes waved before racing into the door and disappearing from sight. Garnet and Brahne waited for the clock to reset, when Garnet had a strange, unnerving feeling. She turned around slowly and came face to chest with the blue and yellow fur of Yenke and Biran.  
"Umm, y-yes?" she asked timidly.  
"Puny summoner must do clock challenge with no help," Biran said. "No help from friends, no help from horn."  
"Summoner has no horn! No horn! No horn!" Yenke chanted.  
"I haven't had my horn for ages," she responded. "I don't even remember having it actually."  
"It okay," Biran said in a patronizing voice. "Biran and Yenke will help little human female who lost her horn. Biran's horn is big! And mighty! Yenke's is kind of okay too."  
"I think I've got it actually." Garnet aligned the clock to the 'X' door and proceeded to walk across the clock hands. Brahne followed her carefully. The two eventually reached the door, despite the severe bending of the clock's hands as Brahne walked across them. The clock then reset itself to the standard starting position.  
Yenke quickly moved over to the panel to control the clock and starting spinning the hands around.  
"Hurry, Yenke," Biran said. "We must catch up to hornless human girl. We must tease her to make her grow strong and forget her weaknesses that she feels from having no mighty horn."  
"Biran and Yenke such good people," Yenke added.

Several cars raced through down the hallway through the rolling stone pillars. The camera labeled them for each of the racers with Reno, Rude, Zone, Fran, Balthier, Ma, and Faris in the front, while the others lagged behind. A stone pillar rolled across the lead cars and Ma's car swerved as she gasped loudly and watched her car get smashed to bits alongside Fran's car.  
"Fran?" Balthier asked. "Wasn't that your car?"  
"Her constant gasping threw me off," Fran replied as she went to get a new car.  
Reno, Rude, Zone, Balthier, and Faris all reached the finish line at the same time. A man dressed in a purple robe handed Reno and Rude their clue.  
"Thanks, bud," Reno said. He ripped open the clue and read it with Rude reading over his shoulder. "Make your way to the town of Gongaga and find your clue among the trash."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to a small hidden town known as Gongaga. The town was mostly destroyed when a Mako Reactor exploded, and teams must search the piles of wreckage to find their next clue."

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Aww, Gongaga?" Reno whined. "I hate that town. All those stupid frogs everywhere. So annoying, y'know?"  
"Whatever," Rude said. "Let's just go before the rest catch up and follow us."  
"Yeah, it's our big chance for a break-out lead, what with the home field advantage. Let's go!"  
Reno and Rude raced out of the hallway through a door marked by red arrows. It pointed them down a series of corridors that took them to a single stone, which once they stepped on it, rose up almost magically to the floor above them. Once there, they headed out of the small room and out the front entrance of the temple. Beyond the entrance was a series of several steps leading down to a rope bridge across a small moat. From here it was a quick jog to the sea-planes. The two boys in black jumped aboard their plane and set sail in the shallow waters of the world.

Cecil and Rosa wrote down their final answer: _Jenova_. The words disappeared and a panel on the front of the podium sprung open to revealed their next clue. Cecil bent down and grabbed the clue, which he read to Rosa.  
"Make your way to the town of Gongaga and find your clue among the trash."  
"Wonderful, let's go," Rosa said. She kissed Cecil on the cheek. "Thanks for keeping your head. I know finding these answers was aggravating."  
"It wasn't too bad," he said. "Let's hurry to this trash town."

"Done!" Watts said as he guided his car over the finish line.  
"Took you long enough," Zone said. The man in purple handed him their next clue, which he opened and read aloud.  
"No clue where that is," Watts said. "Hope your map skills are up to par."  
"Me too."

Freya and Fratley searched the walls frantically with Freya analyzing the murals while Fratley read through the texts over and over.  
"I cannot find it anywhere," Fratley said. "Cecil and Rosa found it quickly. Why can't we?"  
"I am not sure," Freya said. "We must be missing something."  
"I think you should join me in searching texts," Fratley said. "We are looking for a name, which a picture cannot tell."  
"Okay. I will search the left, you the right."

Several cars raced for the finish line. The camera-added labels read Fran, Cid, Ma, and Brahne. Each of their cars waited in a perfect line as the pillar rolled over them without crushing a single car. Once it past, all four cars revved up and raced over the finish line.  
"Good job, Ma!" Zell cheered. He took their clue alongside Balthier, who took the clue of Fran and himself.  
"Nicely done," Balthier said to Fran. "You two as well," he said to Zell and Ma.  
"Hey, I was done _long_ before you," Zell cockily reminded Balthier.  
"Zelly, don't antagonize," Ma lectured Zell.  
The foursome read through the clues and headed outside together. Fran and Balthier ran faster and began to pull away from Zell and Ma, when suddenly Zell called out to them.  
"Hey you guys!" Zell shouted. Balthier and Fran slowed down and looked over their shoulders at him. "I don't suppose you'd like to-"  
"Form a very temporary alliance?" Balthier finished his sentence. "Sounds good to me. We'll team up until the next challenge, then we'll split again."  
"Deal," Zell said. He caught up to them and rubbed his hand on the side of his jean shorts, then extended it for a handshake. Balthier promptly stuck his own hand out and shook Zell's. Balthier and Fran started to jog off again, while Zell just admired his hand.  
"Ma, this is amazing," Zell said. "I'm getting _so_ many handshakes!"  
"That's wonderful, dear," Ma said patronizingly.  
"Don't break stride though," Balthier said. "We'll share information and directions, but only if you don't slow us down."  
"Right, we're coming," Zell shouted. He and Ma quickly joined Fran and Balthier in running for the exit.

"Come on, dearie!" Brahne urged Garnet.  
"I'm _trying_ , but these Ronso are driving so close to mine," Garnet said.  
Garnet watched her car, which was pinched between Biran's on the left and Yenke's on the right. Neither car was physically touching hers, but they were each within inches on either side.  
"Ooh, little hornless summoner is intimidated by our mighty horned cars," Biran teased her.  
"Goatling summoner is worried about horny Ronso," Yenke added. He got several strange looks from the other racers, but most shrugged it off as just a crazy Ronso saying.  
"Mmm," Brahne commented. "If only."  
"You're all making me very nervous. And disgusted," Garnet said. She drove her car over the finish line, which also meant that both Ronso steered theirs over the finish as well.  
The purple old man handed Garnet and Biran their clues. Garnet read her clue to Brahne, while Biran and Yenke stood over her shoulders and mouthed the words with her while assuming her posture.  
"Ha ha ha ha!" Brahne laughed. "You two are too funny!"  
"They're mocking me, aren't they?" Garnet asked. She sighed. "Let's just go."  
"Puny summoner cannot find way without Biran and Yenke," Biran said.  
"Summoner can hold Yenke's horn if summoner would like," Yenke suggested.  
"Please leave me alone," Garnet said. She slowly made her way past the large Ronso and her larger, captivated mother.  
"May I?" Brahne asked Yenke.  
Yenke's heart dropped as he looked Brahne over in fear. "Umm."  
"Yenke has crossed line," Biran said.  
"Yenke is sorry," he told Brahne. "Yenke must protect his horn."

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reno and Rude parked their plane by the shore by a single house and began running inland. There was a large pasture of grass with a large desert to their right and a small forest to their left, which they quickly began running toward after it came into view.  
"You sure this was the closest place to park?" Reno asked.  
"No," Rude replied.  
"Wonderful. Well just keep running. And beware of frogs. Those guys are annoying y'know."  
"Yeah. Hate 'em."  
The Turks ran through the forest circling the trash town and quickly made their way to the large piles of trash. There were red and yellow flags marking two large mounds of discarded scrap metals and destroyed houses.  
Reno looked at Rude and motioned to the pile. "Well, start digging."  
Rude nodded and began looking through the piles of trash. Reno searched the pile on the left while Rude searched the pile to the right. Rude carefully searched each section, while Reno started recklessly throwing trash around in search of a clue.

"There!" Fratley shouted. He pointed to a word on the text. "I found it!"  
Freya ran over to him and looked over the word, then nodded. The pair quickly moved to their podium and wrote the answer on the magical paper. The answer disappeared and their podium opened up. Freya took the clue and read it quietly to Fratley.  
"Okay, let's go," Fratley said.  
Freya and Fratley raced out of the room and headed for the temple's exit.

"You saw that, right?" Dona asked Barthello.  
"Yes. It was that text over there." Barthello moved to the text Freya and Fratley had just read through. "When we get to the final question, the answer is in here."  
Dona scribbled down an answer and the Question 4 light turned green. Their final question was announced by the podium as Dona joined Barthello in looking for the answer.  
"There," Dona said, pointing to the word _Jenova_ so closely that she touched the ancient text.  
Barthello jogged to the podium and wrote the word down. The podium revealed their clue, which Barthello removed and read to Dona.  
"Garbage? Great," Dona complained. "This really _is_ an amazing race. Amazingly disgusting."

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Here," Rude said, holding a clue above his head. Reno threw one last piece of junk from the pile before joining Rude, who read the clue out loud. "Make your way by buggy to Nibelheim. Caution: Xing ahead."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to the town of Nibelheim by a car known as the buggy. The buggy can cross shallow rivers and can get them to Nibelheim quickly, but the buggy is known for its frequent breakdowns. In Nibelheim, teams will find the first of six pre-determined delay points: the Xing."

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place]  
"I don't remember that one from last season," Reno said.  
"We should get there quickly then," Rude suggested.  
"Yeah, let's grab the buggy and haul."  
Reno and Rude quickly exited Gongaga, where on the outskirts they found eleven buggies waiting for them. All were red and had six wheels.  
"Let's take that one," Reno said, pointing to the far left buggy. He and Rude got into the buggy and headed north for Nibelheim.  
"Home field advantage is great," Rude commented.  
"Exactly my thoughts, y'know."


	6. Episode 2, Part 3

Celes and Reina both finally got their cars over the line and received their clues from the old man in purple.  
"Sorry," Reina said to Faris as they received their clue. "You were done so quickly too. I feel horrible slowing you down like this."  
"Tis okay," Faris said. "It just be time fer us to start kickin' booty, else we'll ne'er get our booty."  
"Cid," Celes started. "I-"  
"Don't worry about it," Cid said quickly. "Ditto that mannish woman's sediments. Only less pirate-brogue heavy. Well actually, keep it piratey. It seems more... fun."  
Reina and Faris were first to jog toward the exit, but Celes and Cid were right on their heels as all four made their way to the sea-planes.

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Cecil and Rosa parked their plane and ran to Gongaga, with Rosa constantly checking the map.  
"It should be here," Rosa said, comparing a map to their current position. "Where that forest is."  
"I hope it is inside the forest," Cecil said. "Otherwise we might be very lost."  
They ran through the forest until they finally happened across the junkyard with the two designated piles of trash, one of which was substantially smaller and messier.  
"Take the small one, dear," Cecil said. He ran for the large pile formerly occupied by Rude and began sorting through the junk.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 3rd Place]  
[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 4th Place]  
Fran and Balthier entered the junkyard with Ma and Zell still on their heels. Both teams quickly approached the taller pile of garbage.  
"Mind if we join you?" Balthier said rhetorically to Cecil.  
"Be my guest," Cecil said.  
Fran and Balthier quickly dug into the pile. Both climbed closer to the top, while Cecil remained low. Zell and Ma split up with Zell on the larger pile and Ma on the smaller pile with Rosa.

"Got it!" Rosa yelled to Cecil as she pulled a bent clue from the junk pile. She ripped it open and read it aloud. "Make your way to Nibelheim. Caution, Xing ahead."  
"Sounds bad," Cecil said. "Let's move quickly."  
"I love when you take charge." She smiled and tapped Cecil on the nose before they both raced for the buggies.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place]  
"The hell?" Zone said to Watts as they approached the trash. "Weren't those four guys still at the car detour when we left?" He motioned toward the four racers digging through the trash. "How'd they pass us? _When_ did they pass us?"  
"I'm not sure," Watts said. "Maybe it was when you had to take a leak off the side of the plane?"  
"Oh, you're _still_ gonna complain about that? Like I told you when it happened: I'm not about to go while the plane is still in motion. There are giant propellers spinning around wildly! My stomach hurt just _thinking_ about pulling my you know what out with those spinning around."  
"I'm just saying that's probably when they passed us. When we were off to the side. It was only a couple minutes, but that could've been all the time they needed."  
"Well let's not waste more time," Zone said. "Let's double team the small pile with Zell's mom."  
The pair ran to the smaller, messier pile with Ma and began frantically digging into the garbage.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reno and Rude reached Nibelheim. Neither bothered to look at the Gothic architecture of the city, since both had visited Nibelheim before. They instead ran through the city's square to a mansion in the rear of the town. Large stone walls surrounded the mansion and an iron gate with a red and yellow flag on it, which flapped in the wind. The gate was cracked and from within they could see the clue box beside a bright yellow sign reading "Xing" on it with a matching mat beneath it. On the clue box were several numbered tags from 1 to 10.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"This is the first of six predetermined delay points. Throughout the race will be three types of delays: Yield, U-Turn, and Xing. An Xing can be used to force one team to stop racing until one team (or more) has past them. If the team waiting at the Xing is the last team, they will be notified after waiting for a time period of exactly five minutes, at which time they may begin racing again. Teams may only use one delay point throughout the race, so they must decide when it is most advantageous."

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reno and Rude stood in the center of the mat. "We choose not to Xing anybody," Reno said.  
" _X_ ing?" Rude asked, putting an emphasis on the pronunciation of the X.  
"You'd prefer I call it a Crossing?" Reno asked. "So like, 'we choose not to cross anybody...' Something like that?"  
"Whatever." Rude pulled the clue out of the box while Reno ripped the "1" tag from the side of the box. Rude opened the clue and pulled out the red card. "First one. Roadblock: Who's ready to open up?"  
"Aww, I know you are, buddy," Reno said to Rude.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this roadblock, that team member must enter the spooky mansion and open a safe by finding the four number combination. A note inside the mansion lists three locations around the mansion where teams will find the numbers. Then, without the aid of a pen, pencil, or paper, they must find the four numbers. The fourth number is not hidden inside the mansion, but is instead written directly on the note. This number, however, has been erased and is very difficult to see."

Rude narrowed his barely visible eyebrows at Reno, then opened the clue and read it. "Okay." Without another word, he ran inside the mansion and quickly found the room to the left, where the list of number locations lay on the table. He looked at the first one: _Look for the lid of the box with the most oxygen._ He studied the clue, then quickly raced for the staircase and began looking around the house.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 6th Place]  
[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 7th Place]  
Brahne and Garnet approached the Gongaga forest with Biran and Yenke looming over Garnet's shoulders. Brahne walked beside Garnet, but constantly gazed longingly over her shoulder.  
"I think this is it," Garnet said while looking through the forest.  
"Hornless summoner is unsure," Biran noted. "Does not have her horn to guide her."  
"I'm sorry, I meant that yes, this is definitely it," Garnet reiterated. "Let's go quickly, mother."  
Brahne and Garnet began to jog through the forest, while Biran and Yenke merely walked and cracked all the hornless jokes they could think of. Garnet reached the garbage piles with the other teams first and quickly started throwing around the old car parts, bricks, pipes, and everything else that composed the disgusting trash mounds. Brahne joined her in hurling pieces everywhere to uncover a clue.  
"I can't believe we can't find any," Zell said to Ma from atop the largest pile. "We're one of the first teams. There should be _tons_ of clues still!"  
"I'm sure there are, Zelly," Ma replied. "But you have to keep your wits about you and just keep digging. Don't get frustrated."  
"I'm _not_ , Ma!"  
"Zelllllly," Ma scolded.  
"Sorry, Ma. I'll calm down."  
Biran and Yenke finally reached the trash piles and stood to decide where to dig. Their decision was entirely based on the location of Garnet, but she was on the other side of the trash where they were unable to see her. Yenke started to move for the smaller pile, when suddenly Biran backhanded his chest and bent down to pick up an old, oil-soaked coffee can. Inside a yellow clue shined brightly.  
Biran pulled out the clue and looked to Yenke. "Biran is almost sad. Must go ahead of hornless summoner."  
"Ronso can make sure path is safe for summoner," Yenke noted. Biran nodded in agreement.  
"Wait, they got a clue!?" Watts shouted. He pointed at the Ronso, who were reading over their clue.  
"What the heckles!?" Ma shouted. "They didn't even start looking!"  
"Ma, your temper!" Zell said to Ma.  
"Maybe we're looking at this wrong," Zone said. "Maybe I should wait down at the bottom and check any garbage tossed aside."  
"Naw," Watts replied. "Those hairy guys just got really lucky. It won't happen again."  
"Yeah, probably not. Still, I'll search down there."  
Biran and Yenke ran to the area with the buggies and picked one from the middle, then began driving to the north in search of Nibelheim.

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Cecil and Rosa parked the buggy and ran to the Nibelheim mansion. They ran to the Xing mat and tore off their "2" tag.  
"We choose not to X anybody," Rosa addressed the camera. She opened the clue and pulled out the roadblock card. "Who's ready to open up?" she read to Cecil. "I think I should."  
"Good luck," Cecil said with a hug.  
Rosa ran inside and found the note being read by Rude, who was already on his second number. _Behind the Ivory's short of tea and ray._  
Rude silently exited the room in search of his clue while Rosa read the note for her first clue, then squinted and looked closer at the note. Below the third clue she read the erased clue: _Right 97_. "One down I guess," she said to herself, then jogged out of the note room in search of the room with the most oxygen.

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 8th Place]  
[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 9th Place]  
"Is something bothering you?" Fratley asked Freya as they got off their sea-plane. Freya was watching Dona and Barthello very intently.  
"How did they catch up?" Freya asked. "I believe we were ahead of them."  
"It does not matter," Fratley said. "Come. We cannot let them affect our race."  
"Agreed. I appologize." Freya and Fratley began sprinting for Gongaga, leaving Dona and Barthello behind.  
"Ugh," Dona said to Barthello. "They're not going to make me _run_ , are they?"  
"I believe we should run, but you do not have to," Barthello informed her.  
"Good. I-" Before Dona could complain, Barthello picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He grabbed their backpacks with his free hand and began running after the two rats.  
Freya and Fratley reached the garbage piles and both quickly leapt to the tops of either pile to begin the digging. Barthello arrived shortly after and placed Dona on the ground.  
"So gross," Dona remarked before she hesitantly joined Barthello in digging for clues.

"Yes!" Zell shouted, waving his clue in the air.  
"Oh, Zelly. Good job. But," Ma held up a clue of her own. "I just found one too."  
"Really?" Zell asked. He looked down to his Ma who, sure enough, also had a clue in her hands. "Okay, keep yours," he said. He took his clue between his middle and index finger and shouted "Free clue!" before spinning it into the air where it landed somewhere between the two piles. Zone, who was closest to the bottom, quickly grabbed up the clue.  
"Thanks, Zell!" Watts shouted as he joined his partner in reading their newly acquired clue.  
"So much for an alliance," Balthier noted to Fran.  
"He seems the type to forget things when excited," she replied. "Keep digging."  
Zell, Ma, Zone, and Watts quickly raced for the buggies and headed north for Nibelheim.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Biran drove the buggy across the plains near Gongaga and soon came to a river marked with a sign reading "Shallow Water. Cross with a Buggy or Chocobo only." The sign had a red and yellow flag attached to the top, so Biran knew he was going the right way. He drove the buggy into the shallow water and was halfway across when the buggy suddenly shut off. Water rushed against their windows and windshield as the two Ronso looked at each other curiously.  
"Yenke touch something?" Biran asked.  
"Not Yenke's fault. Is Biran's fault?" Yenke said.  
"Biran did nothing." Biran turned the key in the ignition, but the buggy did not respond with even a click. "Buggy is dead. Ronso cursed."

"There," Fran said, picking a clue out of the garbage.  
"Nice work," Balthier said. He joined Fran in reading the clue, then running for their buggy. They hopped in the closest one with Fran taking the wheel. She pulled out and drove the buggy out for a couple minutes when they came across another buggy that was stopped only about a mile out in the middle of the grassy plains. Fran glanced out her window and smirked at the breakdown, but did not stop.  
"Who was that?" Balthier asked.  
"Our 'partners,'" she replied.  
"Karma is like that."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 6th Place]  
"No! No no no!" Zell shouted at the buggy. Both he and Ma sat in the car with their windows rolled down.  
"It did say there would be frequent breakdowns," Ma noted of the clue. She watched Fran and Balthier drive their buggy past.  
"But why us? This world sucks. The broken airplanes, the broken buggies. I hope later worlds have better technology."  
"I just hope we're around for later worlds."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Zone and Watts ran through Nibelheim and stood on the Xing mat.  
"We choose not to use the Crossing," Zone said to the camera.  
Watts reached into the clue box and pulled out their next clue. He ripped it open and read it aloud. "Who's ready to open up?"  
"You," Zone said.  
"Me," Watts repeated. He read through the details, then nodded to Zone and ran inside. He ran to the note and read through all three hints. "Bottom up," he said to himself and began to pursue the third hint: _The creak in the floor near the chair on the second floor... then to the left five steps, up nine steps, left two steps, and up six steps._  
He ran up the stairs and saw Rosa counting her own steps to the right. To his left he heard the sounds of a safe dial spinning wildly. He went to his right and started walking around, listening for the creak. Rosa looked up at him from her counting. He smiled at her, then was suddenly taken off guard by the creaking under his foot.  
"You're not going to-" Rosa started.  
"Don't worry," Watts said. "I'm not going to just look where you go. I plan to run a fair race."  
"Good to know nobility exists on other worlds too." She looked down at her feet, then her eyes shot upward in thought.  
"Left two," Watts commented. Rosa looked at him with confusion and curiosity. "Chivalry exists in our world too."  
Rosa smiled and took two steps to the left.  
"So does stupidity," Watts mumbled to scold himself as he counted out his five steps to the left.

Rude stared at the safe and tapped his foot. He finally pulled the roadblock clue out of his pocket and read through it a second time. "Four numbers?" he said to himself, then went back to the note in the main area. He stared at it for a while, then shrugged and started searching the mansion again.

Freya leapt up happily and showed the clue to Fratley.  
"Perfect," Fratley said. "Very nicely done, m'lady."  
The two rats read through their clue, then raced off to the buggies to head north to Nibelheim.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 10th Place]  
[Celes & Cid: Subject/Researcher, Currently in Last Place]  
"That was certainly a nice shortcut," Cid commented to Reina and Faris as all four disembarked from their ships.  
"We asked ye not ter follow us," Faris barked back. Reina pulled Faris by her hand toward the forest.  
"Come on," Reina urged. "Don't worry about them. They're nice people."  
"Aye. Bet we can take 'em on foot anyhow."  
Faris and Reina began running for the forest while Cid and Celes hung back for a moment. Celes grabbed her backpack from the plane.  
"Now remember, Granddad," Celes said to Cid, "we're in this to win. I know you're feeling bad for taking their shortcut, but we had to."  
"Yes, I know," Cid replied. "But I still like to be courteous. If we have to be mean, can I make you look like the mean one?"  
"Sure."  
Celes and Cid put on their backpacks and ran to the forest around Gongaga and made their way through to the garbage pile. Faris and Reina had already begun digging for garbage when Celes and Cid approached.  
"Glad to see people are still here," Cid said quietly to Celes.  
"Even our alliance friends Garnet and Brahne are here," Celes said. "That means this is tricky. Let's dig in quickly."

"Eww, come here Barthello," Dona said, waving flies away from her face. When Barthello reached her, she pointed at a clue stuck in some oil near a dead frog. Barthello pulled the clue out and read it, then the pair raced for the buggies while Dona cleaned herself off.

"Yaharr!" Faris said, leaping to her feet. She held a clue triumphantly above her head. "Me expert treasure huntin' abilities amaze even me."  
"Good job!" Reina said, joining her sister to read the clue. "Though it looked to me more like you slipped off the top of a pile of garbage and knocked a bunch of garbage on the way down and accidentally uncovered it."  
"Yer bad fer me image."

Rosa mouthed several numbers to herself as she sat in front of the safe. She finally started turning the knob to the right, then left, then right, then further to the right. She pulled on the handle and the safe swung open.  
"Yes!" Rosa cheered as she grabbed her clue and ran outside.  
"Rosa! Amazing!" Cecil said as he joined her. "You passed the bald man?"  
"I did? I thought he was done first." Rosa and Cecil paused, then both quickly ripped into the clue. Rosa grabbed the clue and read it aloud. "Make your way to the Pit Stop on Mt. Nibel. Warning, the last team to check in may be eliminated."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now race through the mountain pass on Mt. Nibel on foot. Almost a mile into the path is a reactor. This reactor is the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here, may be eliminated."

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Let's go," Cecil said. "Those two men in suits could probably take us in a footrace, so let's not lose our lead."  
"Right," Rosa said.  
The two raced out behind the mansion into several tall, pointed mountains. The path curved around many times, so even from the beginning of the trail they could see the rope bridge leading to the reactor where Gippal stood. Rosa looked on to the reactor and forgot to watch the path, which made her slip on a rock. Cecil caught her by the arm and helped her regain her footing.  
"Thank you, honey," Rosa said.  
"You're welcome. Just focus on the trail for now, not the finish line."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 4th Place]  
Fran and Balthier stood on the Xing mat and addressed the camera.  
"We choose to save our delay," Balthier said. He ripped open the next clue. "Who's ready to open up?"  
"I will," Fran said. She read through the information, then with Balthier holding the door to the mansion open for her, she entered and began searching for the clues.

Rude paced around the clue room. He finally picked up the note after seeing Fran read through it and removed his sunglasses. His eyes grew wide as he looked at the fourth number that he was unable to see with his sunglasses on.  
"Oh," he muttered to himself. He put his sunglasses back on and raced to the safe. He quickly threw in the four numbers and grabbed the clue, then ran outside to get Reno. Without breaking stride, he punched Reno on the shoulder as he passed. Reno jumped to his feet and chased after him.  
"Nice, Rude!" Reno said, catching up to Rude. "I mean, a girl beat you y'know, but I think we can still catch them."  
The two men in suits sprinted ahead, but finally Rude grabbed Reno's jacket and forced him to slow to a stop. He pointed ahead at the reactor, where Cecil and Rosa were already standing.

Gippal stood alongside a man with a long, dark ponytail, thick glasses, and a long white lab coat. The mat was at the top of a flight of metal stairs leading to the shiny reactor.  
Cecil and Rosa climbed the steps and stood on the mat.  
"Welcome to the Mt. Nibel Reactor," the scientist, Hojo, announced to the pair. Cecil and Rosa, both of whom were out of breath, simply smiled and bowed their heads.  
"Cecil and Rosa," Gippal said. "You're team number one!"  
Cecil and Rosa, despite knowing they were the first team, cheered loudly. Rosa hugged Cecil around the neck and Cecil lifted her off the ground. After a few seconds of rejoicing, they looked back to Gippal.  
"As the winners of this leg of the race," Gippal continued, "you've both won a seven day cruise around the country of Wutai, courtesy of , which you can enjoy after the race."  
"That sounds amazing, Gippal. Thank you," Rosa said with a smile.

Biran and Yenke sat on the top of their buggy, which was still mostly submerged in the river. The two wet Ronso watched Dona and Barthello drive by, when suddenly their new buggy arrived. Biran took the driver's seat and Yenke dove into the backseat. They took off driving behind Dona and Barthello as they passed through the desert cliffs of Cosmo Canyon.

Zell and Ma similarly sat on the hood of their buggy as they waited for their buggy, which had finally arrived. Zell quickly jumped into the driver's seat and almost sped off before Ma was fully in the buggy.  
"Sorry, Ma," he said.  
"Don't worry about me, just step on it!" she replied.

Reno and Rude stepped onto the mat and faced Gippal.  
"Rude and Reno," Gippal said, "you're team number two!"  
"Yeah, this guy told me why we lost," Reno said, gesturing to Rude. "Sunglasses, can you believe it? We almost had a double win too, y'know."

Freya and Fratley leapt onto the Xing mat. "We shan't cross anyone," Fratley said. He ripped open the roadblock clue. "Who's ready to open up?"  
"I believe you should," Freya said.  
"Agreed. Wait here for me, m'lady," Fratley said. He ran inside the mansion and started reading over the note of clues.

"FOUND IT!" Brahne shouted at the top of her lungs.  
"Thank goodness," Garnet said. She waved to Cid and Celes. "Good luck you two!"  
"You too," Celes said.  
Brahne and Garnet hopped into one of the two remaining buggies and drove north to Nibelheim.  
"Think we can catch up?" Garnet asked.  
"I hope so, dearie," Brahne asked. "Hopefully it's only driving around and driving toy cars the rest of the way though. Much as I hate to address my own weaknesses, but my legs couldn't bear to run long distances. And my heart couldn't bear to be the one to knock my dear Ciddles from this competition."  
"Yes, I hate being in the bottom with our allies. But if we have to race against them, then that's just how it is. I both hope and dread that they find their clue."

"Here's one," Celes said. "Let's hurry, Granddad."  
"This is not going to be pretty," Cid said.  
The two raced for the remaining buggy and headed to the north.

Reina and Faris stood on the Xing map. "We won't use our x-thing now," Reina said to the camera.  
Faris tore open the roadblock and read it. "Who's ready ter open up? Aye, that be me."  
"Good luck, sister!"

Watts gave the safe a final spin, then opened the door and removed his final clue. He ran outside and collected Zone as the two ran to the mountains behind the city.

Dona and Barthello reached the Xing mat and looked to each other.  
"Who should we cross?" Dona asked Barthello. She began fingering through the pictures of the other racers, but Barthello shook his head.  
"I think we should wait. We can use it later," Barthello said.  
Dona sighed. "Fine. We won't use it then. But whatever that roadblock is, _you're_ doing it, Barthello."  
"Yes, ma'am," Barthello said. He read through the roadblock and ran inside the mansion.

"Mother?" Garnet said to Brahne behind her as she drove the buggy.  
"Yes dear?"  
"Cid and Celes are done. And behind us. I- I don't know how they caught up. I've been driving as fast as possible."  
"They're... _They're behind us!?_ " Brahne spun around and saw the other buggy quickly gaining on them. "What are you doing, Garnet!? Drive faster! Faster!" Brahne started hopping up and down in her seat and with each jolt, the buggy lost speed.  
"Oh, oh please, Mother!" Garnet said. "Please stay still! I think the buggy is moving slowly because of weight issues and bouncing is not helping."  
"Sorry, dear," Brahne said. She pulled a stick she'd found from her backpack and started breaking it in half, then breaking the halves in half. "Come on, buggy!"

"Zone and Watts," Gippal said as the two boys put both feet on the mat. "You're team number three!"  
"We just keep getting better," Watts said.  
"Never doubt the Forest Owls!" Zone cheered.

Biran and Yenke stood on the Xing mat and looked to the camera.  
"Ronso noble creatures," Yenke said. "We not cross-"  
"Wait," Biran said. "But think of summoner. Lost and behind. All alone with no horn to help her. Ronso must help!"  
"So Ronso _not_ noble creatures?"  
"Not really. Ronso going to cross," Biran dug through the pictures until he found the faces of two people he had not seen pass them while they were broken down in the water. "Ronso crossing Hair-Horn and his mommy." Biran put the picture of Zell and Ma onto the board while Yenke added their own picture in the section labeled "Crossed By."  
"Now then," Yenke said after savagely ripping into the roadblock clue. "Who ready to something up? Yenke ripped too hard. Word missing."  
"Biran will do it. Yenke messes things up. Puts holes in clues." Biran ran inside the mansion and looked around at the chaos within. He could hear several voices of people repeating numbers and directions so they would not forget. He saw Fran racing up a flight of stairs, while Fratley opted to instead leap from the floor to the landing above, thus cutting off Fran. Faris upstairs was counting large steps as if looking for a giant 'X' on the ground to tell her where to dig, but was interrupted in her counting as Barthello ran through her path saying something about oxygen. Biran ran to the note prepared to join in the crazy roadblock.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 9th Place]  
Zell and Ma approached the Xing sign not long after Biran and Yenke had departed. Zell quickly started complaining when their picture was in eyesight, though Ma was quiet because her eyesight was not as good. Once they were within Ma's eyesight, she also began complaining loudly.  
"So what's this mean then?" Zell asked Ma.  
"According to this clue, it means we can't go on until any other team touches this mat," she replied.  
"Man, this isn't good at all. First the breakdown, now this. Those hairy beasts are gonna get it." Zell started jumping around making punching motions in the air to stay active. Ma thought he looked ridiculous, but shrugged and decided to join him.

Fratley spun the dial of the safe while Fran waited impatiently behind him. Fratley started to cover the dial so that Fran could not see, but Fran simply walked a few steps back and looked the other way to keep from causing delays. Finally, Fratley opened the safe and pulled his clue out. He raced out the door and leapt from the landing down to the first floor and ran out the door.  
Meanwhile, Fran closed the safe since Fratley had not, then proceeded to unlock the safe as well. She did it quickly and soon enough was racing after Fratley with a clue of her own.

"Come m'lady," Fratley said to Freya as he exited. "We haven't a moment to lose!"  
"Coming dear," Freya said as she grabbed her backpack and got to her feet. She and Fratley looked around and easily located the mountains behind them, then ran for the path.  
Shortly after, Fran emerged and waved for Balthier to follow. "Ffamran, follow."  
"Coming dear," Balthier mocked. He and Fran raced out the gates and chased Freya and Fratley along the mountain path.  
"Do we really need to run?" Fran asked Balthier as they started to gain on Freya and Fratley. "We're neither first nor last."  
"We don't need to beat them, no," Balthier said between breaths. "But I wouldn't mind adding an extra minute or so to our names."  
"Likewise."  
Freya and Fratley reached the mat and leapt on. Fran and Balthier were right on their heels and waited at the bottom of the stairs for them.  
"Freya and Fratley," Gippal said, "you're team number four!"  
"Once again," Fratley said. "But that is okay. Fourth is safe for now. We'll move up later."  
Freya kissed Fratley on the cheek. "I never thanked you for such an amazing roadblock completion. Very well done."  
"Don't," Fran ordered Balthier, who seemed to be ready to copy Freya once again.  
"You two getting anxious?" Gippal asked Fran and Balthier. He gestured for Freya and Fratley to move out of the way, then gestured for Fran and Balthier to approach. "Fran and Balthier, you're team number five!"  
"We, on the other hand, are moving down the chain," Balthier noted to Fran. "We'd best change that."  
"Indeed we shall," Fran replied.

"Finally!" Zell shouted as both the bottom teams started running through Nibelheim. Cid and Celes took the lead with Garnet and Brahne right behind them. By the motivation in their eyes, it was easy to see these two teams were not allies for the time being. Zell and Ma stood to the side of the mat, both waiting for one of the other two teams to set foot on the mat, thus freeing Zell and Ma. Celes' foot touched it first and Zell quickly reached into the clue box and pulled out their clue.  
"Who's ready to open up?" Zell read. "You do it."  
"Okay," Ma said. She hiked up her apron and ran full-speed into the mansion.

Celes and Garnet both ripped open their clues and read to their partners.  
"You want to?" Celes asked Cid.  
"I'm too slow," Cid said. "We'll need your speed for whatever's in there."  
"Okay."

"I'll do it," Garnet told Brahne. "You stay out here and start stretching. Just in case we need to run."  
"Go get 'em, dearie!" Brahne ordered. "Make them bleed if you have to!"  
"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that."

Celes and Garnet ran inside and both started reading the note, which they left on the table.  
"Wait!" Garnet said suddenly. "Celes, if we team up and cut this list in half, we can probably get out of here before at _least_ Zell's mom."  
"True," Celes said. "Okay, I'll work on the first two since they seem easy. You do the third one. And we'll call this 'Right 97' one a freebie."  
"Okay, meet me by the safe!" Garnet ran upstairs while Celes began checking downstairs.

"Yaharr!" Faris shouted as the safe burst open. She grabbed her clue and kicked the safe door shut, then ran outside to collect Reina.  
"Yes!" Reina cheered as she grabbed her belongings and ran alongside Faris to find the next region. They ran into the central plaza and found a man dressed in rags.  
"Pardon me, sir," Reina asked. "But we need to get to Mt. Nibel. Can you tell us where that might be?"  
The man gave the girls a strange look, then pointed at the mountains directly behind the mansion.  
"...Oh," both girls said. They thanked the man and quickly raced for the mountains.

"I can't do this," Barthello said to himself as he spun the dial of the safe and once again failed to open it. "It's too much to memorize. I was never good with puzzles. Dona always did our cloister of trials." Barthello sighed and got to his feet. "Maybe I had something wrong." He ran out the door and checked the lid of the treasure box in the conservatory and nearly bumped into Celes, who was checking the same thing.  
"Pardon me," Celes said as she crept by Barthello and headed down the stairs and into the note room to read her second clue.  
Barthello, having already found the second clue, went down the stairs behind her but instead detoured into the back room to examine the piano where Ma was pushing keys in hopes that something would fall out when she pushed the right one. Finally Barthello gave in.  
"It's here," Barthello said. "Mind if I recheck it?"  
"Sure, sweet boy," Ma said, stepping aside so Barthello could see first. He thanked her and headed upstairs while Ma examined the key. "Okay, so we're at 'Right Randy had 36 tacos left in 10 lunchboxes.' What would the world do without mnemonic devices?"  
Barthello ran back upstairs where Garnet was counting out her steps and looking at the ground. Barthello having already found it simply recalled the location and looked at the ground. Garnet stopped her counting to join Barthello in looking at the number.  
"Sorry," Barthello said. "It's just that Dona will kill me if I don't-"  
"It's okay. It saves me some time," Garnet said with a smile.  
"But this is what I remembered," Barthello said. "And then 'Left 97' and-"  
"Right 97, wasn't it?"  
Barthello's eyes opened wider and he cracked a smile. "Thank you. Thank you so much." Barthello ran off to the safe while Garnet stayed behind and examined the number.  
"I shouldn't have said anything," Garnet said to herself softly. She got to her feet and went into the safe room. She waited behind Barthello, who was waiting behind Biran, who was currently spinning the dial. She waited for Celes and prayed she get there before Zell's mom.

"Faris and Reina," Gippal said, "you're team number six!"  
"Gettin' better every day," Faris said.

Biran pulled his clue from the safe and slammed the door shut before racing outside to get Yenke. Yenke, who was sitting right outside of the door, suddenly fell over as Biran raced out and pushed him over.  
"Come, Yenke!" Biran yelled at him. "Yenke always in the way, making Biran go slow."  
"Yenke is sorry," Yenke said. He jumped up and raced behind Biran for the mountains. The Ronso were quick along the mountains since both were accustomed to climbing mountains, but suddenly Biran stopped.  
"Oh no. Biran forget something important!" Biran said.  
"What Biran forget?" Yenke asked.  
"Biran pass hornless summoner and not make fun of her!"  
"What if hornless goatling summoner is unable to finish now? Not motivated by Ronso insults!"  
"Biran is sorry, but Ronso must finish even if hornless summoner cannot. Ronso always come first except sometimes."

Barthello raced outside and handed Dona the clue.  
" _Finally_ ," Dona said. She read the clue aloud. "Come, Barthello. We're close."  
"Yes, ma'am," Barthello said. Dona began walking quickly into the mountains while Barthello tailed behind her.

Garnet stepped up to the dial just as Celes entered and told her the first two numbers.  
"Right 36, Left 10," Celes said. "And it looks like we're ahead of Ma, but not by much."  
"Right 36," Garnet said as she put the numbers in. "Left 10. Oh, and my number was Right 59. Then Right 97..." The door popped open and Garnet grabbed her clue. She closed the door and looked to Celes. "You'd better open it yourself, just in case."  
"Agreed," Celes said. "Good luck, Garnet."  
"You too." Garnet raced outside and ripped open the clue. "Oh goodness, we have a mile run."  
"Oh dear," Brahne said. "But I've been doing Pilates out here to impress my Ciddles, so I'm ready to run."  
"Please..." Zell said, quivering in the corner. "Make her stop. Go go!"  
Brahne gave Zell an evil look, but then she and Garnet started running for the mountains. The ground around the mansion started to shake as Brahne ran.

"Dammit," Celes said as the number flew past 10 and went to 9 on her left turn. She spun the dial around to reset it and started again. She finally put the combination in and pulled the door open. She grabbed the clue and ran outside to meet Cid.  
"How're Garnet and Brahne?" Celes asked.  
"They're... on the move," Cid said. "We should be too. Zell's mother won't be far behind."

"Biran and Yenke," Gippal said, "you're team number seven! Quite an improvement, boys."  
"Biran work harder, Yenke work harder, but all human things break!" Biran complained. "Hornless show needs more Ronso inventions. Like stick. Or rock. Those never break."  
"So true," Gippal said. He shrugged and looked to Hojo beside him, but he was unresponsive.

"Dona and Barthello," Gippal said, "you're team number eight!"  
"Wonderful," Dona said. "Another day of this."  
"Thank you, Gippal," Barthello said. "I'm really enjoying this."  
"You'll really need to get her to warm up to the idea of this show," Gippal said to Barthello. "This competition needs two teammates working in harmony to succeed."  
"Yes, sir," Barthello said. "I'll do my best."

Ma sat down beside the safe and started turning the dial while reciting her mnemonics device. "Okay, _Right_ Randy had _36_ tacos _left_ in _10_ lunch boxes _right_ after _59_ baseball players played _right_ through _97_ innings." The door flew open and Ma grabbed her clue and ran outside. She joined Zell and the two started running up the mountain at full speed.  
"I still see the other teams! Hop on, Ma! We can make it!" Zell said and motioned for her to jump on his back.  
" _You_ hop on!" Ma yelled back as she passed Zell.

"They're coming. Can't you run more?" Celes urged Cid, who was walking and gasping for air.  
"I'm sorry, Celes," Cid said. "That question is about twenty years too late. We can still beat them though. We're almost there. And we're closing in on Brahne and Garnet at that!"

"Mother, are you okay?" Garnet asked Brahne, who was walking slowly and using her daughter as a crutch.  
"We... can't... lose," Brahne choked out.

"Zelly," Ma said. "I'm sorry, I just can't run anymore."  
"Then don't," Zell said. He stopped and crouched down on the ground in front of her.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Do it! Hurry hurry, Ma!"  
"I'll scold you for yelling at your mother later," Ma said as she leapt onto Zell's back. He held her arms around his neck and ran, though at a slower pace.

"Oh no!" Celes yelled as Zell ran by with his mom on his back. "Cid, you want to do that?"  
"Can you carry me?" Cid said. "You're a general not some pack mule."  
" _Get on_!" Celes shouted at him. He quickly jumped on her back and she started running as well.

"NOOOOO!" Brahne shouted as Zell and Ma ran past them and went across the bridge to the Pit Stop area. "Garnet, sweetheart, if you could just-"  
"I'm sorry, Mother, but no. Not a chance," Garnet said.

"Ma and Zell," Gippal said, "you're team number nine!"  
Zell tried to make a response, but instead just collapsed on the mat.  
"Thank you, Gippal," Ma said. "I think I'm going to take him to bed now."  
"Good idea," Gippal said.

Cid rode Celes all the way to a rope bridge, then tapped her on the shoulder to put him down.  
"Okay, I can run from here," Cid said. "Let's go."  
Cid and Celes ran across the bridge and ran to the bottom of the stairs, where the two watched Gippal at the mat with Garnet and Brahne.  
"Brahne and Garnet," Gippal said, "you're team number ten."  
Garnet and Brahne nodded and beckoned for Cid and Celes to join them. Garnet gave Celes a hug while Brahne gave Cid a hug and kiss on the cheek, which was only on the cheek because Cid turned his head at the last second. The two moved onto the mat and faced Gippal.  
"Celes and Cid," Gippal said, "you're the last team to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you you've been eliminated from the race."  
"Thanks for a wonderful time," Celes said to Gippal.  
"Are you proud of your 'granddad?'" Gippal said, making sure to include air quotes.  
"Of course. I was proud before this race. This just reconfirmed it."  
"Disappointed to go?" Gippal asked.  
"Of course," Cid responded. "We were close to survival. Very close. But close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades."  
"Very true," Gippal said. He mouthed 'horse shoes?' to Celes, but she just shrugged and shook her head.  
"I couldn't have asked for a more entertaining experience," Celes said to Gippal. She looked to Garnet and Brahne. "And you two had better do our alliance proud!"  
"We will!" Garnet and Brahne said. They started to wave as Cid and Celes walked back down the stairs and away from the Pit Stop.


	7. Episode 3, Part 1

Gippal walked down a flight of metallic stairs leading to the exterior of an underground reactor and walked to the edge of the mountain where it sat. It overlooked a small, quaint city with a less than quaint mansion in the back. "This town and reactor was the origin to a threat to the entire world of _Fantasy 7_ some time ago, but it has now become the second pit stop in a race around worlds. Teams began at the Gold Saucer Theme Park and traveled by broken seaplanes to an ancient temple. Some teams fell behind due to seaplane failure, but ultimately caught up in the temple, where a detour involving RC cars caused sisters Faris and Reina and test subject/researcher Celes and Cid to lag behind. A clue hidden in trash became impossible for mother/daughter team Brahne and Garnet to find and ultimately caused them to fall equally behind, while partners Reno and Rude lost the lead at a roadblock when Rude could not see the final hint through his sunglasses, enabling married couple Cecil and Rosa to claim the victory. Through an unknown alliance, mother/son team Ma and Zell were forced to wait at the new Xing delay point by friends Biran and Yenke so that Brahne and Garnet could catch up. In the end, allies Celes and Cid and Brahne and Garnet were forced to battle for last place, with Celes and Cid becoming the second team eliminated. Will the odd alliance between Biran and Yenke and Brahne and Garnet cause the two low-placing teams to rise up? Will Rude take off his stupid sunglasses? Cecil and Rosa, who were first to arrive at 11:12 am, will depart at 11:12 pm."

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, 1st to Depart: 11:12 pm]  
Rosa and Cecil stood side by side on the dark and eerie Mt. Nibel with small flashlight headbands on. Rosa ripped open the clue in her hands and pulled out the route info, which she read to Cecil. "Travel to Goug Machine City in the _Fantasy Tactics_ verse via the International Rocket Town Airport."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to the International Rocket Town Airport by crossing through the mountains and trekking for a short distance through grassy plains. There they must find an airship to travel to Goug Machine City in the _Fantasy Tactics_ verse and find a clue box in the rooftop of a house in the slums."

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in 1st Place]  
"You have 400 gil for this leg of the race. Okay, let's go," Rosa said. She and Cecil started down the path to Mt. Nibel with Cecil leading the way. Rosa followed the light from her headband, which reflected brilliantly off of Cecil's armor. Finally after not being able to bear it any longer, she jogged forward and walked beside Cecil to walk hand-in-hand.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, 2nd to Depart: 11:18 pm]  
Reno ripped open the clue and read it to Rude. "...via the International Rocket Town Air- umm, Air. Hey Rude, I can't quite make out that last word. It must be too bright out. Think you and your sunglasses could finish this for me?"  
"Shut up," Rude responded. "You're wasting time."  
"Ohh, _I'm_ wasting time. That's true, y'know. Wouldn't want to cost us first place."  
Rude stared at Reno without speaking. Finally Reno broke the silence. "Oh come on, you big baby. I'm just messing. But seriously, I think we need to start being less playful and more-"  
"Like me?" Rude asked.  
"Yes, like you. Less talking, more sucking at roadblocks." Reno looked at Rude, who walked silently toward Rocket Town. "Oh come on! You're such a girl!" Reno jogged behind him to catch up and travel down the mountain with him.

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in 1st Place]  
Cecil and Rosa entered a small village of wooden homes and dirt streets. The buildings all had tall pitched rooftops. Signs hung from wooden posts above the doors to indicate the wares sold at that shop. The town was quaint except for the large, newly constructed airport behind the town. The large white building was blocky and had no charm like the town it rested behind. The only decorations were a black sign that said "International and Domestic Airport" and a large metallic claw-like object extending from the ground. The structure had formerly housed a fallen rocket ship, but now had nothing but rust.  
Cecil led Rosa through the city, continuing to stay close to each other. They reached the entrance to the airport and the automatic glass doors slid open. Inside were only two different counters. On the left was the bright green sign that read "Air Cactuar." The counter held a couple of computers, both facing inward for staff use, but nobody was at the counter. The lights above the counters were off and the lines, like the entire airport, were empty. The counter on the right had a dull gray sign reading "Highwind Airlines." It only had one very old looking computer also turned inward for the staff to use. Like Air Cactuar, the lights here were off as well and nobody was at the counter. In the back, between and beyond both counters, was a single room labeled "Travel Agency."  
"Let's try the travel agency," Rosa suggested. Cecil agreed and the pair ran to the door, only to be met with a sign reading "Hours: 4:00 am to 10:00 pm."  
"We should wait here," Cecil said. "I don't want to worry about the flights. I'd rather have somebody find a flight for us. We'll be the first in line."  
"Agreed. We'll rest until then."

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"Figures," Reno said upon entering the airport. He thrust his hands into his pockets and walked toward Cecil and Rosa with Rude only slightly behind him. "Travel agency, huh?" he said to Rosa, who was pulling a blanket out of her bag. "Good plan. I haven't trusted them since that time they accidentally gave us tickets to the wrong destination. Make sure you two check the tickets, y'know? You sometimes don't _think_ Midgar and Mideel sound similar when you say them, but you never know. Just be careful."  
"Thank you. We will," Rosa said. She and Cecil slid together and pulled the blanket over themselves.  
Reno and Rude walked away from the pair and leaned against the far wall next to an old pay phone. Feeling a safe distance away, Rude told Reno, "That didn't happen."  
"I know," he responded. He pointed at his own head. "I'm just trying to get in their heads, y'know?"

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, 3rd to Depart: 11:43 pm]  
Zone ripped open the clue and read it to Watts.  
"Okay, it's flights time," Watts said. "Remember: we need to make our lead here. We're smarter than the other teams. We have to take over right here and now."  
"What pressure," Zone said, clutching his stomach tighter and tighter.  
"Oh no way, really?"  
"Just joshing," Zone said, releasing his stomach. "I'm actually fairly psyched. This Goug Machine City sounds like our kind of place. I'm hoping for a challenge to build a train or something. Anything to give us technological-types a boost over our competition that has probably never seen a TV or anything electric for that matter."  
Zone and Watts heaved their packs onto their backs and headed down the mountain.

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, 4th to Depart: 11:51 pm]  
"Ready?" Freya asked Fratley as she held the clue in front of her.  
"Yes," Fratley said. He watched as Freya ripped open the clue and smiled as she read it to him. "Sounds like a horrible city."  
"We'll be fine," Freya said. "Do you suppose we should wait for the team behind us? We could ally with them."  
"I'd rather not," Fratley said. "I don't trust them."  
"We can hear you, you know," Balthier said as he and Fran walked toward the Pit Start mat.  
"My apologies," Fratley said to Balthier before turning his attention back to Freya. "Come, dear." Fratley began to jog toward the base of the mountain. Freya quickly joined him and then even past him, forcing Fratley to jog even faster.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, 5th to Depart: 11:52 pm]  
Fran ripped open the clue. "Travel to Goug Machine City..."  
"Traveling, I see," Balthier said. "As a man of the skies, I'd really hate to have this be our downfall."  
"Plotting our end so soon? Such talk is not befitting of a leading man."  
"A leading man is only as good as his play. Adding some tension could do us well. Perhaps we'll finally snag that first place."  
Fran and Balthier headed down the mountain after Freya and Fratley, hoping but not planning to catch up to the high jumping rats.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Zone and Watts entered the airport and quickly decided it was their best bet to head straight for the travel agency. They slid in beside Cecil and Rosa and took the second spot in line. Both looked nervously at Reno and Rude.  
"Were they next?" Zone asked.  
"I'm not sure. I hope not!" Watts said.

"Were we next?" Rude asked Reno. Neither bothered to move from their place leaning against the far wall.  
"Naw, we'll do it the old fashioned way," Reno said. "If we line up there, Crazy and Rosa won't be afraid of the travel agent anymore. And the two dorks already are afraid of us. We're fine. We only need that fear, y'know?"  
Rude nodded.

Fratley and Freya approached the airport entrance with Fran and Balthier only shortly behind. Fratley moved in front of Freya and reached his hand out for the glass door. "Allow me," he said just before the doors slid open on their own.  
"Thank you anyway," Freya said as she stepped inside.  
"Yes, thank you," Balthier said as he and Fran jogged past Fratley and Freya. Without a second thought, the two ran to the travel agency.  
"Hey wait," Fratley yelled after Balthier. He and Freya raced after them, but lined up behind them for the travel agent. "We were first, if you don't mind."  
Balthier and Fran both sat down beside Zone and Watts and started digging through their packs for sleeping bags. "I think not. Better luck next time."  
"I was holding the door, but we were still first inside," Fratley argued.  
"The way I saw it, you were holding nary a thing."  
"I-"  
"Let it go," Freya said to Fratley. She sat beside Fran and motioned for Fratley to sit beside her. He complied and slumped to the ground. "We'll beat them despite this. Just like we did last time."  
"Touche," Balthier said.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 6th to Depart: 12:07 am]  
"Are ya ready, sis?" Faris asked Reina as she clutched the clue.  
"Aye aye, sister," Reina responded.  
"I can't hear you!"  
" _Aye aye, sister!_ " she shouted back.  
Faris opened the clue and read it to Reina. "Travel ter Goug Machine City. Aye, we be sailin' in the skies again."  
"Cool."  
Reina and Faris quickly raced down the mountain and joined the others in the airport. They, like Reno and Rude, opted to wait out of line on some padded chairs down the rightmost corridor.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, 7th to Depart: 12:13 am]  
Biran held out the clue and ripped it open, though unfortunately he also ripped it completely in half. He shook out the two halves of the clue and held them together. He read the ripped clue poorly. "Tra-el to Goug Mach in... Clue is too broken."  
"What should Biran and Yenke do?" Yenke asked.  
"Biran will do what Biran good at. Biran wait for hornless summoner and follow her."  
"Biran so smart," Yenke said. He and Biran ran to a corner of the mountain and sat on a rock, waiting for somebody to follow to their next destination.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, 8th to Depart: 12:16 am]  
Dona opened the clue and read it to Barthello. "Travel to Goug Machine City by the International Rocket Town Airport. Ugh. I can't stand airports."  
Barthello picked up his backpack, then also reached down and picked up Dona's. Then the two made their way down the mountain after Dona cast a judgmental glare at the two Ronso sitting on the rock in the dark.

-{Dona & Barthello: Interview}-

Dona and Barthello sat facing the camera with the same mountain area as their backdrop.  
"Barthello and I had a talk at the last Pit Stop," Dona said. "We came to the mutual agreement that we work best when _I_ decide everything. So I'm taking charge now, just like when I was on my pilgrimage and Barthello was just my lowly guardian. We're through being the nice guys."  
"I'll mostly be quiet and carry her bag. She said I'm most threatening when I don't speak. She also said I have to carry her bags because she's more able to be a bitch that way.  
"You can't be a bitch when you're carrying things. Not a _good_ one anyway."

-{End Interview}-

Dona and Barthello reached the airport and joined Reina and Faris by the comfortable chairs. Dona laid across several of the chairs and fell asleep while Barthello stayed awake to be her alarm clock.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 9th to Depart: 12:27 am]  
Zell eagerly ripped open the clue and read it to Ma. "Travel to Goug Machine City via the International Rocket Town Airport. Sweet, time to travel to a new world!" He raised up his hand for a high-five. Ma smiled and slapped his hand. Zell started to run off when he heard Ma clearing her throat. "What is it, Ma?"  
Ma stood with her arm straight down and her hand behind her, palm up. "Zelly, what have I told you about forgetting down low?"  
"Oh yeah! Sorry, Ma!" Zell ran to her and slapped her hand, then the two raced off to find the airport.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Last to Depart: 12:28 am]  
Garnet ripped open the clue and started to read, when suddenly something caught her eye. "Travel to... Oh no, they waited for us."  
Brahne looked around and finally followed Garnet's glare toward the two Ronso sitting on the rock. "Oh goodie!"  
Garnet quickly finished reading the clue, then she and her mother started down the mountain. Without a single word, Biran and Yenke waited for them to pass, then started cracking their comments as usual.  
"Hornless Summoner's horn was sooooo not there," Biran started.  
"How not there was it?" Yenke chimed in.  
"Her horn was so not there that she was hornless!"  
"I really don't get them," Garnet said to herself, since her mother was clapping and laughing at the Ronso's joke.

Zell and Ma reached the airport just slightly ahead of Garnet, Brahne and the Ronso and they rightly took their place in line for the travel agent. Garnet led Brahne away from the travel agent and instead decided to wait in front of Cactuar Air. Biran and Yenke, of course, followed them. She read the sign on the counter that read: "Hours: 5:00 am to 11:00 pm."

[3:58 am: Dona & Barthello]  
Barthello nudged Dona awake and quietly pointed to the clock on the wall. Dona got to her feet slowly, taking a quick moment to stretch, then rose to her feet. Barthello also stood, then threw both of their backpacks onto his broad shoulders. They walked to the main entrance of the airport where all the other teams waited.  
Cecil and Rosa, both of whom were already awake, started getting to their feet when they saw the lights inside the travel agency light up. The door lock clicked off and a hand removed the hours of operation sign. Rosa finished putting their blanket into her backpack and started zipping it up when Dona led Barthello up to the door and flung the door open, sneaking in before Cecil and Rosa.  
"Hey wait!" Rosa shouted after them. "We were first!"  
"Doesn't seem that way to me," Dona said over her shoulder as she sat in one of the two chairs inside, opposite the man who sat behind the desk at his computer. Barthello started to sit in the other chair, but he was beat by Dona's feet, which rested comfortably on it.  
"There was a line and you weren't even in it!" Cecil argued. He and Rosa followed Dona and Barthello inside the small room, which barely fit them all, especially with Dona spread out and taking up two chairs.  
" _I_ didn't see a line," she responded. She looked to the man at the desk. "Sir, was there a line?"  
"I'm not sure," he said, scratching his head. "I came in through the back like always, but we don't _normally_ have lines. I don't even usually have customers."  
"See? There wasn't a line. Just a bunch of people sitting outside."  
" _There... Was... A... Line..._ " Cecil said through gritted teeth.  
"Honey, calm down," Rosa said to Cecil.  
"Yes, honey. Please," Dona added.  
Rosa sighed. "Okay, Cece. Kill her."  
Cecil started to move toward Dona when Barthello slowly moved in his path and faced him with his arms folded across his chest.  
"People, please," the man at the desk said. The phone rang, but was barely audible over the all the screaming voices. Even people outside shouted in at Dona and Barthello for cutting in line. The man said "excuse me" and picked up the phone. He plugged his unused ear with his finger and talked on the phone while the people argued.  
"That's just cheap, guys!" Watts shouted in.  
"Race properly!" Balthier shouted.  
"Even _that_ guy is more fair than you, come on!" Fratley added, referring to Balthier.  
The shouting continued as the man at the desk continued to try to talk on the phone. He constantly gestured for people to be quiet and waved for them to leave the room. "Yeah, okay... I'll check... We have a six forty... Arrives at eight..."  
The group finally began to disperse and back out the doorway, leaving Dona and Barthello alone in the room. Cecil was last out and slammed the door behind him. " _Damn cheating sons of bitches_."  
"Come on, sweetie," Rosa said calmly. "We'll still get the same flight as them I'm sure. Then we'll beat them fair and square to the Pit Stop. They'll get what's coming to them."

Dona tapped her foot anxiously on the chair and Barthello started pacing slightly while the man finished up with his call. "Okay, just give them the confirmation code... You're welcome, sir. Have a nice trip!... Thank you. Bye then." The man hung up the phone and looked up to Dona and Barthello. "I'm really sorry about that. I would've told the man to hold, but he said it was urgent. So how can I help you today?"  
"We need the fastest flight to Goug Machine City," Dona said.  
"Oh weird, the man on the phone wanted that flight too! How neat! Maybe you'll see each other in Goug!"  
"Whatever, just get me the tickets."  
"Okie dokie. Well, unfortunately, the man on the phone ordered the last available tickets, but it looks like Air Cactuar will have a flight leaving at 7:10 am and arriving at 8:35 am. So you may not see this guy and his family. He's getting there 35 minutes ahead of you."  
"You _sold_ the best tickets!? To whom!?"

"Zero one eight two five," Reno said, hanging up the pay phone to his left. "We just got us the fastest eight tickets to Goug."  
"What'll we do with the extra six tickets?" Rude asked.  
"I heard another guy's scheme from before. Balthier. He had a neat strategy to get the weakest teams in the front of the pack with you. To guarantee a first place victory and possibly knock out a stronger team, y'know?"  
Reno walked over to Garnet, Brahne, and the Ronsos. "Say ladies and doggies," Reno said. "Interested in the best tickets available to Goug?"  
"Well, yes, but why do you ask?" Garnet asked.  
"I just happen to be in possession of a few excess tickets, if you'd like them."  
"I'm sorry, but I don't entirely trust you. We'd like to look on our own first."  
"Yeah, that's smart! But it's hard to pass up these direct tickets leaving only forty minutes after the airport even opens. Lands at 8:00 am on the dot! But look around. I'll have these tickets for you when you want them."  
"Thank... err... you," Garnet said, a bit confused by what was happening.  
Reno and Rude walked off toward Faris and Reina and left Garnet to speak with her mother.  
"How nice," Brahne said. "Now those are men who know how to treat ladies!"  
"Yeah, except that I think they don't view us as competition," Garnet said. "They're mocking us by giving us these tickets."  
"We'll just have to show them we _are_ competition, right dearie?"  
Garnet smiled. "Yes, Mother."

"Thanks a lot," Dona said sarcastically as she took the confirmation code from the travel agent. "Next time, deal with the customer in person before the one on the phone... Idiot." Dona turned to leave and started opening the door. "Come, Barthello."  
"Yes, ma'am," he said as he followed her out the door, where they were met with more people screaming insults at them.  
Rosa went into the travel agency and pulled Cecil in with her. They closed the door behind them and sat in the chairs facing the desk.

"By Leviathan's whiskers, are ye serious?" Faris asked Reno.  
"You scare me," Reno responded. "But yes."  
"I knew linin' up was all fer naught! Ye'll be rewarded fer this. Faris Tycoon stays in no man's debt."  
"We should probably get in line at the counter then, right?" Reina said. "It's only a half hour until the counter opens, and we should probably be ready when it does. Such an early flight..."  
"Good point," Reno said. "Then follow us, ladies."  
Reno and Rude led Faris and Reina to the Highwind Airlines line and waited for it to open.

Cecil and Rosa shook the travel agent's hand, then exited with their tickets on Dona and Barthello's flight. Zone and Watts entered and sat down in the two chairs.  
"If those are the best flights to Goug, then we want them too," Watts said.  
"Certainly," the man said. "There should be plenty left."

One by one, the teams cycled into the travel agent and got their confirmation codes for the same flight. Each team upon exiting took the opportunity to glare at Dona and Barthello. Barthello remained stoic and took no criticism from this, but Dona, on the other hand, seemed more and more uplifted by each nasty glare.

Both Cactuar Air and Highwind Airlines counters suddenly lit up and staff members manned the computers. Garnet approached the agent at Cactuar Air.  
"Hi, what's your earliest flight to Goug Machine City?" Garnet asked.  
"Let me check," the woman behind the counter said as she typed it into her computer. "It looks like our first flight gets in at 8:35 am."  
"I see," Garnet said. She looked over to Reno, who was now at the counter and looking back at Garnet, waving for her to come join him. "Thanks anyway," Garnet said to the woman at the counter as she hopped out of line and joined Reno at the counter.  
"Welcome to the front of the pack," Reno said, handing Faris, Reina, Garnet, Brahne, Biran, and Yenke their tickets.


	8. Episode 3, Part 2

Reno, Rude, Faris, Reina, Garnet, Brahne, Biran, and Yenke waited behind a group of people as they handed their tickets to the stewardess and boarded the airship. They walked through the jetway paired up as teams and found their seats on the airship located in a large cargo room with wooden floors. There was a small section set aside for passengers where chairs were bolted to the floors and seat belts were provided. Faris and Reina smiled happily at their good fortune of this flight, which they knew to be the best.

Meanwhile, inside the airport, the remaining teams waited in line at Cactuar Air. Dona and Barthello were in front and Ma and Zell were in the back. All teams held small slips of paper with a confirmation number on them that they'd individually acquired at the travel agency.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"All teams are now flying directly to Goug Machine City. Departing on Highwind Airlines at 6:40 am and arriving at 8:00 am are: Reno and Rude, Garnet and Brahne, Biran and Yenke, and Reina and Faris. Arriving 35 minutes later on Cactuar Air are: Dona and Barthello, Cecil and Rosa, Zone and Watts, Fran and Balthier, Freya and Fratley, and Ma and Zell."

[Highwind Airlines Landing: 8:01 am]  
The four teams raced out of the airport and into the city of Goug. There were small cottages with steep-pitched rooftops, similar to Rocket Town only some of the houses had windmills on them. A bridge over a dirt path below led the teams into the heart of the city where several women walked around in earth-toned dresses and sunbonnets. The city streets were narrow between houses, but the low population made walking through easy enough.  
"Slums slums slums," Reno chanted to himself. "Rude, you're tall. Do you see a part of the town that looks crappy?"  
"No," Rude responded. The pair continued through the streets and ran to the left side of the town in search of the slums.

"Oh wow," Garnet said, clasping her hands together happily. "This place reminds me a lot of home. It looks like Alexandria, doesn't it?"  
Brahne, who was lagging behind, caught up to Garnet with Biran over her left shoulder and Yenke over her right. "Aww, dearie. Does the widdle hornless goatling summoner miss her home?"  
Biran and Yenke started laughing so hard that they fell over. Brahne giggled at the sight, while Garnet just sighed and ran forward to one of the peasant women.  
"Excuse me, we're looking for the slums. Where might that be?" she asked.  
"Down this way, ma'am," the woman said, pointing to the rightmost path.  
"Thank you," Garnet said. She looked back at the three laughing idiots and gestured for them to follow. "Come on, Mother. We'll lose our lead!"  
Brahne and the Ronsos finally agreed and followed Garnet down the path the woman indicated. The slums were only a short distance away and were very definitely the low class area of the town. The buildings were in such horrible shape that some of them were no longer even standing, while those that stood were poorly patched with pieces of worn down lumber. The doors were replaced by ratty blankets nailed above the door frame. In the distance, on one of the demolished houses, the rooftop remained. Beside the chimney was a clue box.  
Garnet and Biran sprinted for the box while Brahne and Yenke moved at a slower pace. Finally Yenke built up speed and caught up to Biran. Yenke reached into the clue box and pulled out their clue.  
Yenke ripped open the clue and read it to Biran. "Detour."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. The choices: Find Exit or Find Item. In Find Exit, teams must travel to a mythical location known as the Deep Dungeon. Once there, teams will enter the marked section called END and search for the exit, while shrouded in complete darkness. They will have to search walls, ceilings, and floors to a small crevice holding their next clue. Searching the entire area for a single exit could take a long time, but teams with enough luck could finish quickly. In Find Item, teams must travel a large distance to the Bervenia Volcano. Once there, teams must climb to the top of a tall rocky spire and locate a legendary blade known as the "Materia Blade." Tied to this blade will be their next clue. The task is very physically demanding and requires a lot of teamwork, but teams know exactly where the item is, so no luck is required."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Biran wonders what hornless summoner will do," Biran joked.  
"Biran, Yenke understands following hornless summoner around, but Ronso must win race," Yenke commented. "Yenke suggests we do Find Item, no matter what."  
"Biran feels shame. First time Yenke ever smartered Biran. Ronso doing Find Item!"  
Yenke and Biran took one last laugh at Garnet before leaping off the rooftop and running through the city.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"Find Exit or Find Item," Garnet read. "I think we should avoid the physical tasks, at least for now. Let's do Find Exit, okay?"  
"Sure, dearie," Brahne responded. "I wish I knew what our friends were doing. I miss them already."  
Brahne, who had just reached the top of the rooftop, turned with a sigh and began crawling down. Garnet followed her down, occasionally going so slow that out of boredom, she stopped to watch Faris and Reina run through the broken walls and dirt of the slums. Faris and Reina quickly hopped up the rooftop and reached the clue box.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Reina ripped open the clue and read it to Faris. "I think Find Item. We're good climbers."  
"Aye, and we be bad at findin' things," Faris responded.

Biran and Yenke ran through the nicer areas of Goug until they reached the port stretching into the ocean. Several ships and ferries sat in the water, anchored to the cleats on the piers. Two signs pointed to two separate piers: the left read "Find Item" and the right said "Find Exit." They were both red signs with yellow text. Looking at these two signs were Reno and Rude.  
"I think we missed something," Reno said to Rude before Biran and Yenke ran to the left pier. Reno called out to them. "You guys found the clue box?"  
"Ronso find everything," Yenke said.  
"Don't tell, Yenke!" Biran said, slapping Yenke upside the head. He turned his attention to the Turks. "Clue box is tricky, but of course Ronso find it. Box is underwater. Ronso had to swim for it over there," Biran pointed to a random spot in the water.  
"I think it was down that other path in the city," Reno mumbled to Rude.  
"Biran is good liar, how you know Biran lies?"  
"Dude, you're not even wet, and you're covered with hair."  
Reno and Rude turned around and ran back toward the city, where they were passed by Faris and Reina, then shortly after were passed by Garnet and Brahne.  
Biran and Yenke boarded the ferry bound for the Find Item detour and ran out to the front of the ferry to watch their progress. Faris and Reina joined them on the ferry but instead climbed a flight of stairs on the ferry, which led up to a small viewing deck.  
"Yar, I be home," Faris commented.  
Garnet and Brahne took the other pier and boarded the ferry bound for the Find Exit detour. Both ferries began pulling away from the docks and headed in different directions. The Find Item ferry headed north, while the Find Exit ferry went south at first, then headed east.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 4th Place]  
"There it is," Reno said as he and Rude climbed to the top of the roof holding the clue box.  
Rude opened the clue and read it to Reno. "Find Item," he said.  
Reno agreed. "Let's see if we can get there before those ferries leave."  
Reno and Rude ran quickly through the streets of Goug and made their way to the pier. Unfortunately, they were only able to see the two ships in the distance. The two Turks stood on the pier to Find Item and were gently rocked by the wake from the boats pushing up and down on the pier.  
"I'm not really sure how this happened," Reno said. "We brought the weaker teams with us, and now they're all ahead of us, y'know?"  
"Yeah, it sucks," Rude agreed.

The Turks continued to wait until finally, a half an hour later, the next pair of ferries came into the port. They boarded their boat, which continued to wait a short while to see if any other teams would be joining them.

[Air Cactuar Landing: 8:35 am]  
The remaining teams disembarked from their green airship and ran through the Goug Airport and into the main city. They all looked around frantically for the slums. Zell led the pack and ran ahead to find a person to ask. He located a scrawny blonde man polishing a gun in a corner.  
"Hey, where are the slums?" Zell asked. Ma caught up to Zell and smacked him upside his head.  
"Hey, where are your manners?" Ma mocked Zell. "Address the man politely."  
"It's okay," the man said. He pointed down the rightmost path. "It's that way."  
The words "Thank you" echoed in the group of racers, all of whom now raced down the right path. They found the slums and ran to the building, climbing up as quickly as they could.

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 5th Place]  
"Detour," Freya read. "I think we're best suited for Find Item."  
"Definitely," Fratley agreed.  
The pair started to leave when they noticed that all the other teams had just finished climbing the rooftop and were closing in on the clue box from all sides. They started to push through people, but were instead met with a force that pushed them back toward the box and back toward other people.  
"Pardon m- Careful!" Freya spouted several unfinished words and phrases as she and Fratley were pushed around as if in a rooftop mosh pit. Fratley finally broke free and looked back to Freya, but still could not see her through the other racers. Finally she popped out of the group, though she was not out how she wanted to be. She stumbled backwards quickly out of the group. Her foot caught a loose roof tile near the edge and sent the tile flying at Dona's head as Freya completely lost her balance and toppled over backwards off the rooftop.  
"Freya!" Fratley shouted. He leapt after her, but she still landed down below in a pile of broken stone walls. A cloud of dust made it impossible for anybody, including Fratley, to see her, but he ran in and searched the pile anyway, waving his arms around to clear the dust.  
"Who the _hell_ hit me with this!?" Dona shouted at the group, but none of them paid any attention. All had turned to see what had become of Freya. The dust cleared and revealed Fratley holding Freya, who had blood streaking down her left arm, left leg, and slightly above her left eyebrow. The head wound bled the most, but Fratley was already digging through his backpack. He pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it against Freya's head wound.  
"Freya. Freya! Can you hear me, my beloved?" Fratley repeated several times.  
"Should we get a potion or phoenix down?" Ma shouted to Fratley.  
Freya opened her eyes slightly and looked up at Fratley. "Sir Fratley. At last I've found you."

Reno and Rude waited impatiently on the ferry until finally, it pulled away from the pier and headed north. The other ferry, although carrying no passengers, also departed.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 5th Place]  
"Who the hell cares about her?" Dona mumbled to herself. " _I_ am the one that was hit by that clumsy girl's brick flinging."  
"Are you okay, Dona?" Barthello asked. He looked closer at the red mark that appeared on Dona's cheek where the roof tile collided with her.  
"I'm fine, Barthello. Now can we _please_ go?"  
Barthello nodded and the two crawled down from the roof and headed to the docks. Upon arrival, they noticed the boats were missing, each with a sign saying they would return in twenty-five minutes.  
"Should we go back and help then?" Barthello asked. "I'm really worried."  
"She'll be fine, Barthello. She's wearing mostly armor anyway. Now come on, we're doing Find Item."  
Barthello hesitated, then finally nodded his agreement.

"Would you like me to find a nearby item shop?" Ma asked Fratley, but he only shook his head.  
"I have some disinfectant in my backpack," Zone offered. He handed a small white bottle to Fratley, who accepted the bottle and poured some on his handkerchief before returning it to Freya's head. She winced at the pain as two tears streamed from the corner of each eye.  
"I'm sorry," Fratley said, putting less pressure on the rag.  
"No, it's okay," Freya said quietly. "I'm just so happy to see you. It's been so long."  
"It actually... has not been that long," Fratley said. "Do you... know where you are?"  
Freya looked around at her surroundings, then at the people nearby, who were beginning to stir now that they knew Freya was okay. "I'm in... a race, right?"  
"We are. Together. We're a team."  
"I... see," she mumbled. "But I've not seen you in years."  
Fratley turned to his competitors and began waving his hand for them to go on. "She's okay. Please continue your race."  
The teams all agreed and walked to the clue box.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 6th Place]  
"Detour," Balthier said. "Perhaps Find Item is our best course of action."  
"Agreed," Fran replied.

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in 7th Place]  
"We should climb," Cecil said. "Let's do Find Item."  
"Yes," Rosa said. "Best to stay out of the darkness."  
" _The darkness lurks inside of me,_ " Cecil mumbled to himself.  
"Stop that."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 8th Place]  
"That's so horrible," Ma said to Zell as she opened the clue.  
"I know. I hope they pull through. Man, I wish I knew who pushed her!" Zell punched a fist into his palm. "I'd make that person wish he'd never been born!"  
"That's nice, Zelly." Ma read the clue to Zell. "Perhaps Find Item?"  
"Definitely."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 9th Place]  
"Item or Exit?" Watts asked. "How's your stomach?"  
"It's fine," Zone said. "But either way, I think Find Item sounds difficult. We're methodical. Even in the dark we can find a clue. I hope."  
"Okay, we'll do Find Exit."

All teams except for Freya and Fratley raced off to the pier where they rejoined Dona and Barthello. All racers sat in silence as they constantly looked to the piers to see if the boats were coming and looked back into the city to see if Freya and Fratley would come.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, 1st to Find Exit Detour]  
The Find Exit Ferry reached a strange dark island with the ruins of a lighthouse at the shore. A poorly crafted sign reading "Deep Dungeon" had a large red slash of paint over it, crossing out the text. Beside it the words "Midlight's Deep" stood out in the same red paint.  
Brahne and Garnet followed a path marked by red and yellow flags down into a dark cave. There were several signs lit only by nearby torches with words like "MLAPAN" and "TIGER" written on them. Finally, the last cave was marked by a red and yellow flag and was labeled as "END."  
"Through here, Mother," Garnet said.  
Garnet and Brahne crept into the dark hallway, neither being able to see anything beyond the tips of their noses. The cameras turned to a green night-vision and watched the two of them slowly easing forward. Brahne kept one hand on the wall while Garnet just shuffled her feet. After a short distance, Garnet's feet hit a large step and made her lose her balance. She put her hands out blindly and caught herself, then continued on.  
"I have an idea, Mother," Garnet said. "I can move quicker, so I'll do a quick search. Then you can move slower and do a more thorough check. Okay?"  
"That's a wonderful idea, Dearie," Brahne said. "I like any plan that doesn't involve me moving quickly through these scary tunnels. I might trip and fall, and I bruise easily."  
Garnet continued to scurry through the area, which the camera revealed was shaped like a spiraling staircase, though each step was large enough to fit about four to six people. Brahne was still on the first step, walking slowly and holding her arms out to either side for balance whenever she couldn't hold a wall.

Reina, Faris, Biran, and Yenke all departed from the Find Item Ferry, only to discover that the ferry did not take them the full distance. They entered a city called Dorter Trade City. Buildings were made of a combination of stone and wood to support them and had blue roofs. Streets were cobbled with grass peaking through the stones. Both teams walked through the streets, following signs labeled as "Find Item" to the north. The path led them through a section of barren desert that seemed to stretch on forever.  
Biran and Yenke were the first to reach the Bernevia Volcano area. It was easy to tell they were in the area because there was lava all over the ground. There were several sturdy, flat rocks that provided an easy enough path to the climbing spot. At one point the members had to jump across rocks over the lava, though the gaps were not very large and the rocks were very large and flat. Not to mention the several Amazing FF Race crew members positioned around the path in case of accidents.  
Biran and Yenke hopped across the rocks and approached the tallest rock. It was about three stories tall, but had certain landing points. From the ground there was a section only six feet off the ground, then from that point another section that was eight feet off the ground, then a third that was six feet again. From there, there were several sections that formed a staircase of two foot tall steps to the top. At the top was a thick sword plunged blade first into the ground. From the hilt were strings attached to several clues.  
A crew member handed both Biran and Yenke a safety set including a helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads. The two Ronso hurriedly put them on while Reina and Faris hopped across the rocks and joined them. They grabbed their own set of safety gear and started to throw them on. Their helmets, unlike Biran and Yenke's, did not provide holes in the helmets for horns. Biran and Yenke pointed this out to them.  
"Just so you all know, you _both_ need to get to the top," the crew member explained to both teams. "It's not good enough if just one of you gets the clue."  
"Okay," Reina responded, speaking for all four racers.

"Any luck, Mother?" Garnet asked. She was on the top step, crawling around on all fours patting the ground.  
"Not yet, Sweetie," Brahne said. She was finally moving up to the second step, when suddenly she screamed as if a snake bit her.  
"Oh my goodness, what happened!?" Garnet raced down the steps blindly, occasionally hitting her shoulder against the wall. When she finally stumbled into Brahne, she soon learned the screaming was not pain nor fear, but happiness for the clue in Brahne's hands.  
"I found it, I found it, I found it!" she shouted. She held the clue in the air, though neither she nor Garnet could actually see it. The pair slowly slipped out of the cave. Both kept a hand against the wall as they snuck out the caves and headed outside where there was light. Once there, Garnet ripped open the clue.  
"Make your way to Orbonne Monastery and find your next destination in the Germonik Scriptures on the third floor of the underground book storage," she read.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to Orbonne Monastery, near Dorter Trade City. Once there, teams must go down through the underground book storage to the third floor and find the ancient text known as the Germonik Scriptures, although the book they will be looking for is actually a copy of the ancient book. Inside the book is a page done in red text, as opposed to the common black text. There are ten copies of this book and teams must rip the red page out to take with them."

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 1st Place]  
Garnet pulled out the map of the island and looked at it while walking back to the boat. Instead of the ferry they took in, however, there was a small ship called the S.S. Warjilis. Garnet approached the boat and spoke with a man that was presumably the captain of the ship.  
"Excuse me, sir," she said. "Will this ship take us back to the main land?"  
"Yes, ma'am," he said. "I'll take you to Warjilis Trade City for a small fee. Just ten gil."  
"That would be lovely, thank you," Garnet said. She handed the man the ten gil and boarded the ship with Brahne. The ship set sail and the mother and daughter sat near the back and watched the waves.

Reno and Rude's ferry reached Dorter Trade City and the pair quickly disembarked and jogged through the city, hoping to make up lost time. They followed the signs through the town and into the desert.

Biran and Yenke, fully clad in their safety gear, had begun climbing up the small mountain. Yenke jumped up to the first ledge and caught it with his arms. His feet scraped at the wall as Biran jumped up beside him and did the same. Neither could get the proper footing, however, and both soon fell backwards and started panting.  
Reina and Faris, now also equipped in their safety gear, started up the mountain. Faris started climbing while Reina stayed behind and boosted her up. Faris easily reached the first landing and laid face down on the ledge, offering a hand to help pull Reina up.  
"At this rate we'll be thar in no time," Faris said as she heaved Reina up to the ledge.  
"Biran, we should do help each other method, too," Yenke said.  
"Fine. Yenke will give Biran a boost then," Biran said. "Biran not touching Yenke's ugly, dirty feet."

The ferries to the detours both returned to Goug Machine City and all teams except for Zone and Watts and Freya and Fratley boarded the Find Item Ferry. Zone and Watts boarded the Find Exit Ferry instead.  
Freya and Fratley finally staggered into the pier. Fratley led Freya by the hand as she held the handkerchief to her head. Her left side slumped lower than her right, but she was still walking by herself for the most part.  
"Should we still do this detour?" Fratley asked.  
"Yes, I think we can still do it," Freya replied. "So tell me again, a detour is a choice between two tasks, right?"  
"Yes, each with its own pros and cons."  
The two boarded the Find Item Ferry, which departed immediately after. The Find Exit Ferry departed then as well.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 1st Place]  
The S.S. Warjilis reached its city of destination and the mother/daughter team disembarked. Garnet thanked the captain and pulled her map back out.  
"We have a long walk to the north," Garnet said. "Perhaps we can find some form of transportation?"  
"There's a chocobo stable," Brahne pointed out. "Let's ride some! I love those birds."  
Garnet agreed and walked with her mother to the stables. They spoke with the stable keeper, an old bearded man, about renting some chocobos.  
"It'll cost ya 150 gil each," the man said.  
"That's almost all of our money," Garnet told Brahne.  
"It's worth it, Dearie."  
Garnet paid the 300 gil to the man and the two women took their chocobos and rode them north.

"They're passing us!" Reina shouted as Faris pulled her up to the next big step. Yenke was pulling Biran up much faster than Faris was pulling Reina and soon the two Ronso were in the final stretch to reach the sword. They climbed over the final steps and reached the sword in the ground. Biran ripped off the clue and ripped it open.  
"Make way to Orboon Monastery," Biran read poorly. "Ronso need to find... A book."  
Biran put the clue in his side pouch and the Ronso slid down a smooth side of rock as if they were surfing. They reached the bottom and threw all of their safety equipment off and started running back toward Dorter Trade City.  
Once they reached the desert, Biran stopped and pulled a map and the clue out. "Biran not sure where Orboon is."  
He and Yenke sat by the map and compared words until they finally found Orbonne Monastery just slightly south of Dorter.  
"Biran is going right way," Yenke said. "Ronso have excellent sense of direction."

Faris and Reina hopped along the final steps of the large rock and found the sword. Reina ripped the clue off and read it to Faris.  
"Now how d' we get down?" Faris asked.  
"I wanna do like the Biran and the Yenke," Reina said happily. Before Faris could object, Reina started surfing down the mountain.  
"Yah har!" Faris laughed and joined Reina in sliding down. They threw off their safety equipment and Faris pointed to the south. "To Orbonne!"  
The girls ran to the south and soon saw Biran and Yenke crouched in the desert looking at the map. They rose to their feet and started walking south as well. Faris and Reina ran by them and cheered, prompting the Ronso to run as well. They all ran through Dorter again and continued south until they saw the tall thin monastery. It was made completely of stone save the wooden doors and had a stone path leading up to the main door. Behind the monastery was a wooden dock over a small section of ocean. A second path to the right of the monastery marked with red and yellow flags led the two teams around the side of the building where another wooden door labeled "Book Storage" awaited them. Faris was first through the door, though she was closely followed by the other three people. They plowed through the doors into a room with two full bookshelves and stairs leading down.  
"Three floors down," Faris said. "Let's hurry."

Garnet and Brahne rode in on their chocobos and left them near the entrance to the monastery. Garnet quickly spotted the marker pointing to the back of monastery and started following the path. Brahne was slowly tying her chocobo to a hitching post near the front.  
"Please hurry, Mother," Garnet said politely.  
"I'm coming, Sweetie," Brahne said. "Meet me by the door, okay?"  
Garnet nodded and walked to the book storage entrance. Once she was out of sight, Brahne untied her chocobo from the hitching post and instead found a small but sturdy bush near the sign pointing to the book storage. She tied her chocobo to the bush and ordered it to stay once it was directly in front of the sign. She grinned and trotted over to the book storage entrance to join Garnet.

Reno and Rude, wearing their safety gear, were in the process of climbing the rock at the Find Item detour. Rude climbed first and reached the first platform, then reached a hand down for Reno, but Reno shook his head.  
"I can get this one," Reno said. "Work on getting up the taller one."  
Rude nodded and took a running leap at the next ledge. He reached the top and slowly pulled himself up. His arms throbbed as he did so and just when he was about to slip, Reno, who had reached the first ledge, grabbed his shoe and boosted him up. Rude reached the next ledge and reached down for Reno. Reno, like Rude, took a running leap at the ledge and grabbed onto Rude's forearm. Rude grabbed him back and easily pulled him up.  
"This is cake," Reno said as the Turks finished climbing the rock and reached the sword at the top. Rude grabbed their clue and the Turks started leaping down the mountain the way they'd gone up.  
"Make your way to Orbonne Monastery," Rude read as they both took off their safety equipment at the bottom. The consulted the map, then started running to the south.

"This could take forever," Reina said as she and Faris started searching the third floor of the book storage with the two Ronso. The third floor was a large maze packed full of books. It was made entirely of stone and looked more like a prison than a book storage. The books had no order to them whatsoever.  
Garnet and Brahne entered the third floor and looked around at the other teams frantically searching the spines of books. Brahne smiled happily when she saw the Ronso in the corner. "They're here! Yippie!"  
"It means we're losing, Mother," Garnet said. "I really want to win this leg to make up for our near loss last time."  
Garnet and Brahne quickly jumped in and started searching through the books.

Zone and Watts jumped off the ferry and landed on the shore of the Deep Dungeon. They quickly ran through the tunnels connecting the different areas and found the one labeled END. They walked in together, each on a different side of the tunnel to cover more ground.  
"What's the plan?" Zone asked.  
"I'm not sure. Either one of us goes in and we search front to back and hope it isn't somewhere in the middle, or we both search here and just split the searching area."  
"I for one don't want to go through here to find the end and work backwards. It's so dark. I think we should stick together."  
"I could go to the end though. You could start here."  
"Don't leave me," Zone whimpered quietly.  
"What's that?" Watts asked.  
"I said 'I'd bet it's in the middle anyway and we just double our time. So let's just split the search area."  
"Okay."  
Zone and Watts got down on their hands and knees and started searching the ground and walls.

The people for the Find Item Ferry disembarked and ran through Dorter Trade City. They headed north to the desert where they soon past Reno and Rude, who were on their way back and had just reached Dorter.  
"It's this way, right?" Rosa asked the Turks.  
"Can't tell ya, y'know?" Reno replied. "Sorry. But I'll bet our running this direction indicates one thing or another."  
The large group passed the Turks as they came up to the monastery. They looked ahead at the giant wooden front door and then glanced to the chocobos parked outside.  
"Looks like a monastery to me, y'know?" Reno said as he and Rude ran forward and entered the front door. The camera slowly panned to the chocobo up ahead and a small corner of the red sign leading them around back could be seen from around the chocobo. There was a rattlesnake sound effect added in the background for some reason.


	9. Episode 3, Part 3

"Sis. Sis!" Reina shouted in a whisper to her sister. Faris turned and saw Reina holding a copy of the Germonik Scriptures. Faris ran to her and led her to a corner so they could properly hide the appearance of the book.

"Biran found book!" Biran announced loudly. He held it above his head and started waving it around, then he and Yenke finally decided to actually open the book and look for the page. Everybody looked up at the book, including Reina and Faris, who both just sighed.

"It's green, Mother," Garnet said. "And thick."  
"Oh, like this one?" Brahne said, pulling a book from the shelf.  
"Yes, yes that's it!" Garnet ran to Brahne and the two began flipping through the pages.

"Thar ye are!" Faris said, ripping a page with red text from the book. She read the page quietly to Reina. "Make yer way ter the dam at Bethla Garrison."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to the dam at Bethla Garrison.. Like they just said. Why do I have a job? The teams can read... Oh well. Nice mouth, gift-horse."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris ran up several flights of stairs and made their way outside. They ran to Dorter Trade City and found a group of people talking by the side of the road. Reina approached them cautiously with Faris right behind her.  
"Pardon us," Reina explained, mostly to the one woman of the group. "We're looking to go to Bethla Garrison. Do you know the way?"  
"It's immediately east of here," the woman said politely.  
"Okay, thank you!" Reina said. She and Faris waved and headed to the east. Reina pulled out the compass and started navigating. Faris kept a close watch over her sister's shoulder, just in case of poor navigation.

Zone and Watts continued slowly through the Deep Dungeon. Zone started looking low while Watts looked high, when suddenly Watts tripped on a small hole in the ground. Zone helped him regain his balance, then stuck his hand into the hole and pulled out their clue.  
"Yes! Got it!" Zone said. "Now... Lead me out of here. I'm lost."  
Watts grabbed him by the shirt collar and led him out of the cave and into the light outside. They read through the clue, then consulted the map.  
"It's way up here," Watts said, pointing near the middle of the map. Then he pointed much lower and to the right. "We're down here. It'll be a really long walk. But the coast goes up a long distance too."  
"So?" he responded, clearly not following.  
Zone and Watts reached their boat and Watts waved to the captain. "Excuse me, sir. But would it be possible for you to drop us up much more north than Warjilis? Perhaps near... Bethla Garrison? We'll pay extra of course."  
"Sure. An extra 250 gil should do it."  
Zone pulled Watts aside and whispered. "That's almost all of our money. You sure about this?"  
"I think it's our best bet. The other teams are really close to Orbonne, so they have a huge advantage."  
Zone nodded and agreed to pay the captain.  
"Wonderful, then let's be off," the captain said. He pushed the boat out into the waters and set sail with Zone and Watts.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"Here it is, Mother!" Garnet whispered loudly. She read the passage quietly. "Make your way to Bethla Garrison."  
Brahne and Garnet quietly stood up and put their book away, making sure to rip out their clue before doing so. They made their way up the flights of stairs and went outside to retrieve their chocobos. Garnet double checked the wording of their clue before mounting her chocobo alongside her mother who was doing the same. They rode into town where some villagers pointed them toward Bethla Garrison.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 4th Place]  
"I don't see it," Reno said. He and Rude were looking all around the monastery for the book storage, but were only able to thus far find the door to the confessional and the priest's chambers. "There's only one door left and I'm afraid it's gonna have _another_ angry old man behind it. You should check it, y'know?"  
"Crap," Rude responded.  
"Hey, watch your mouth. It's a church, y'know."  
Rude walked up to the final door behind a large golden idol and opened the door slowly, giving a faint knock while doing so. He peeked in, then closed the door. "Bathroom."  
"Damn," Reno said. Rude glared at him for it. "Okay, then outside."  
Rude nodded and the two Turks walked outside the monastery where they saw the sign pointing to the back.  
"Why didn't we-" Reno started. "There were chocobos there."  
"We've been tricked," Rude said. "Let's hurry." He pointed to the book storage and quickly ran ahead with Reno in tow. They went inside and jogged down the stairs until they were caught up to Biran and Yenke inside. They quickly started ravaging the bookcases, pulling books out and throwing them on the ground behind them. Biran laughed, then Yenke pointed to a page in the book they were looking through.  
"Biran, this is it," he said. Biran joined him in reading it and together they sounded out Betha Garrison. They finally raced out of the book storage to find their new location.

Fran and Balthier were the first to reach the volcano and quickly got their safety gear on while other teams started to arrive. The next to suit up were Cecil and Rosa, who were only a few strides behind. The other three teams arrived at approximately the same time, but on of the staff members held his hand out to stop them.  
"Sorry, only two teams on at once," he said.  
"No way!" Zell shouted. "But what if we get our gear on first?"  
"It's first to suit up completely," he answered.  
With that, every person started frantically putting on their safety gear except for Fran and Balthier, who were almost fully suited. The staff surrounded the other racers as gear started rolling around and people were being accidentally pushed. The staff pushed back to keep the racers from falling too close to the lava on the ground.  
Balthier and Fran, completely in their gear, started climbing the rock. Balthier laced his fingers together and gave Fran a boost to the next level. She climbed up and crouched down to help her partner. Balthier took a couple steps back, then ran at the wall and jumped as high as he could. His legs clawed at the wall and his arm reached out for Fran, who solidly grabbed it and pulled him up with little difficulty. They surveyed the next level and approached it in a similar fashion.  
The remaining teams scrambled for their gear with Zell being the first one to suit up. He helped his mom by finding her helmet, which had been kicked away earlier. He returned with the helmet and put it on Ma's head, then started shouting and pointing to her. "We're done! We're done!"  
The head staff member looked at Ma and nodded. "Okay, you're up then."  
"Yes!" Zell shouted, adding an arm pump gesture or two.  
Cecil and Rosa, who had finished putting on their gear only a few seconds after Ma, cleared out of the way, taking the next spot in line to climb. Behind them, Freya and Fratley continued to put safety gear on while facing off with Dona and Barthello in a dead heat for the fourth climbing spot.  
Zell ran at the wall and jumped up, grabbing the ledge at about waist height. Ma moved in below him and grabbed one of his feet, which flailed wildly. Once Zell noticed she'd grabbed on, he straightened the leg and let Ma help push him up.  
"Don't be in such a hurry now, Zelly," she said.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Faris and Reina were within eyesight of the giant dam at Bethla Garrison. The dam was located between two large mountains, both of which were composed of mostly rocks. Right out in front on a small bridge was the clue box. They started to jog for it, when suddenly two chocobos ridden by Brahne and Garnet stormed past them. This caused Faris and Reina to go much faster than a jog as they ran for the clue box. Despite their run, Garnet and Brahne dismounted their chocobos right beside the clue box. Garnet reached in and pulled out a clue.  
"Roadblock," Garnet said. "Who's ready to go dam high?"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this roadblock, that team member must rappel up the side of this dam. Once at the top, they will enter the lake behind the dam and swim a few yards out to a buoy with their next clue tied to the side. Then they must swim back to the dam and rappel back down the dam into the shallow river waters below."

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 1st Place]  
"It sounds physical, but I think we have a lead if you'd like to do it," Garnet said.  
Brahne seemed slightly offended by the implications, but easily shook it off because of her extreme desire to win. "You should do it, Dearie. I'll wait here and tend our chocobos."  
"Okay." Garnet raced over to the left side of the dam where the staff began suiting her up to rappel.

Faris and Reina reached the dam only moments later and Reina ripped open the clue.  
"Who's ready to go dam high?" Reina read out of breath. "I think you're the better climber, but..."  
"It be yer turn," Faris said. "Go fer it."  
"Thanks!" Reina read through the clue, then ran to the right side of the dam where a second crew was helping her gear up for the climb. She looked over to Garnet, who was finally beginning her ascent.  
"Now you're just going to put your foot in this loop extend your leg to go up, then use the hand controls to release and grab the rope to go up."  
"Like this?" Garnet put her foot in the loop and pushed up. The ropes held her a commanding two inches off the ground.  
Meanwhile, Reina was having similar luck as she began climbing as well. She also floated only two or three inches off the ground and wrestled with the contraption to lift her higher. Faris was behind her shouting encouragement, while Brahne was also closer to Reina trying to discourage her.

Fratley and Barthello were both wearing their full safety, while Freya and Dona still struggled with theirs. Fratley helped Freya carefully put her helmet on over the bandages he'd previously wrapped around her head. Barthello tried to help Dona put her kneepads on, but she just pushed him away. Finally Dona threw on her final kneepad and stood up.  
"I'm ready," she told the staff member.  
"Okay, you're team number four then," the staff member informed her.

Balthier helped Fran to the top of the rock and ripped his clue from the sword. They hopped back down the way they'd come up, passing by Zell and Ma as they struggled up the tallest ledge. Once their feet were firmly on the ground level, Cecil and Rosa started climbing with Cecil offering Rosa a boost.  
"No problem," Balthier said as he opened the clue. "Make your way to Orbonne Monastery and find your next destination in the Germonik Scriptures on the third floor of the underground book storage. Shall we then?"  
"We shall," Fran said.  
"Perhaps we can catch the group ahead of us. I'm not ruling out a victory on this leg, despite the later flight."  
"Neither am I."  
Fran and Balthier began to jog back toward Dorter Trade City. Balthier glanced over his shoulder at the teams at the detour. Zell was still struggling and Rosa was at the first ledge standing beside Ma, who was busy trying to find a way to help Zell.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 5th Place]  
Zone and Watts walked across the large stretch of forest after disembarking in the east and soon found Orbonne Monastery. They ran down the steps and made their way into the book storage, which by now had books covering the floor. They each tiptoed through to avoid crushing too many books, then began looking through the shelves themselves. They heard Reno and Rude before they saw them since they were across the room, tossing more books on the floor. Rude still generally searched visually while Reno took the messier approach.

"Finally!" Reno said as he pulled a book from the shelf. He and Rude flipped through it quickly and after a short time they found the clue page. Reno ripped it out and read it to Rude. "What're you waiting for? Let's go!"  
They ran out of the room and nearly collided with Balthier at the entrance to the book storage.  
"Careful now," Balthier said, watching Reno stumble past him. He held the door for Rude, who walked past and nodded his appreciation. He also saw Fran and nodded to her, adding a barely noticeable smirk. He joined Reno and watched as Balthier and Fran ran inside the book storage.  
"I saw that," Reno told him. "You liiiike her."  
"Bethla Garrison," came the reply. "Stop wasting time."  
"I think you're allergic to fun."  
Reno began jogging toward Bethla Garrison with Rude.

Zell finally pulled Ma up the big ledge and they trotted through the smaller ledges until the end. Zell took the opportunity to slide down the side of the rock, while Ma chose to backtrack. Once together, Zell read the clue to Ma and they headed for Orbonne.  
Dona and Barthello moved in on the rocks and joined Cecil and Rosa in climbing. Cecil had just boosted Rosa up to the large ledge and was trying to climb as well. He reached up for Rosa to grab his arm, which she did. She pulled with all her strength, but Cecil still started to slip.  
"Let go let go let go!" Cecil shouted at her. She finally released him and he fell backwards onto his butt. He rubbed his arm, which was turning a bright pink color.

Garnet and Reina were each about three-fourths of the way up the dam with Reina only slightly ahead of Garnet. Both hung from their ropes without moving.  
"Don' worry, sis!" Faris shouted. "Just catch yer breath and go when ye can."  
"Don't listen to her, Garnet!" Brahne shouted at her daughter. "You have a chance to pass her! Never miss an opportunity!"  
Garnet responded to the provoking and strained to go up more, while Reina continued to wait for a few seconds.

"Ronso here!" Biran shouted as he and Yenke approached the clue box at the dam. Brahne let out an excited squeak. Biran opened the clue and pulled out the roadblock card. "Who is ready to go dam high? Yenke does it because Yenke is taller."  
"Yenke will not disappoint Biran!" Yenke shouted as he ran to the dam and got into his gear on the left side of the dam near Garnet. He started suiting up, but still took the time to shout up to Garnet. "Hurry hornless summoner! Ronso is coming to beat you!"

Cecil held out his arms and Rosa hopped down into them, putting herself back one level. He put her down and started grabbing for the next ledge while this time she helped him to the next level.  
Meanwhile, directly beside them, Barthello and Dona were trying a similar strategy. Barthello was trying to get to the next ledge and those strength was on his side, jumping was not. Dona folded her arms across her chest.  
"You _don't_ expect me to touch those disgusting shoes, do you?" she said to Barthello.  
"I can't reach, Dona," Barthello explained. "If I can't get up there, then we'll be eliminated."  
"Tsk, fine." Barthello started to climb and Dona first started by trying to push on his butt to get him up, but was having little success. Finally, she bent down and tried to lift him by his foot, but even that had little result.  
Beside them, Rosa was giving Cecil a boost but was also struggling to lift him high enough that he could pull himself up.  
"Can't you get a running start and jump like Zell did?" Rosa asked Cecil.  
"I'm not that athletic," he responded. "Can't you lift me more?"  
"I'm giving you all I've got," Rosa said. She sighed. "I don't know if we can do this."  
"We can't switch detours."  
"Hey, you two," Dona said. "What if we -ugh- helped each other? Those ugly rat creatures are still behind us, so if you helped Barthello up, we could help you two up."  
Cecil turned to Rosa and pulled her close to talk quietly. "What do you think?"  
"As much as I dislike them, our only other option is switching detours."  
Cecil turned back to Dona. "Okay, I'll boost the muscle man up since there's no way I could ever pull him up."  
Cecil approached Barthello, who was preparing himself. He faced the tallest wall and reached as high as he could with his hands, then lifted one leg off the ground. Cecil grabbed his foot and lifted with all his might. Barthello pushed off of the foot Cecil held and reached up high, finally reaching the ledge with a good firm grip. He pulled himself up without much difficulty from that point on. Barthello stood up and dusted his hands off before reaching down to grab for the next person. However, instead of grabbing Cecil's outstretched arm, he grabbed Dona just next to Cecil. He pulled her up quickly.  
"Hey!" Rosa shouted.  
"Sorry," Barthello said. He started to reach his hand down for Cecil when Dona slapped his shoulder. Barthello stopped reaching and stood back up. "Really sorry."  
Dona and Barthello ran along the final stretch of the rock and grabbed their clue from the sword, then ran down the side of the mountain. Dona opened the clue and read it, then the two headed off toward Orbonne.  
Freya and Fratley started up the mountain the second Dona and Barthello were down. Having watched four teams already do it, they knew how to approach it and started by boosting Fratley to the next level. He pulled Freya up and soon they joined Rosa and a very angry Cecil.  
" _Double-crossing lying sons of bitches. They're gonna die in their sleep tonight_ ," Cecil murmured to himself.  
Rosa did not seem much more collected. She was cursing at Dona and Barthello as well. "I don't know what to do now," she said to Cecil, who was mostly ignoring her to think of horrible things to say about Dona and Barthello.  
"Why aren't you two just jumping all over the place like normal?" Rosa asked Freya after making the observation.  
"Fratley hurt his leg while helping me after my fall," Freya told her as she tried to boost Fratley up to the next level. "And my head hurts so badly, so any strenuous activity gives me a splitting headache." Freya groaned as she lost her hold on Fratley, who slid back down to their level and panted.  
"I'm sorry to hear about that," Rosa said to Freya. "It really was a nasty accident."  
" _We don't have time to talk_ ," Cecil said.  
"If we boost you up, will you come back for us?" Fratley asked. "You seem like a noble man."  
Cecil paused for a minute, then nodded. His face was no longer contorted as a calm passed through him. "Yes, I will."  
"I believe you will," Fratley said. He and Freya surrounded Cecil as he faced the wall, then each lifted one of his legs up. He grabbed the ledge and began pulling himself up while Freya and Fratley boosted him higher and higher until he reached the top. He immediately turned around to pull someone up. His hand started to go to Rosa, but seeing the disapproving look on her face reminded him who he was. Instead he stuck out a hand for Fratley and began pulling him up.  
" _Pussy_ ," Cecil said to himself.

Reno and Rude reached the clue box at the dam, just in time to see all three of the supposedly "weak" competition they'd brought with them on the flight near the top of the dam. Reno quickly reached in the clue box and pulled their clue out. He ripped it open quickly and read it. "Me," he responded quickly. He read through the clue then raced to the side with Reina and started getting his equipment on. Rude waited next to Faris.  
As Reno started on the wall, Garnet and Reina were nearing the top. Yenke was gaining quickly on Garnet, but was only a little over halfway up the cliffside.  
Garnet was the first over the top. Behind the dam the water was nearly to the top and not too far out was a red buoy with clues stuck to it. Garnet caught her breath, then ran to the water and dove in. As she swam out toward the buoy, Reina came over the top of the dam and removed her harness. She also ran to the water and dove in head first. Despite a very quick swim, Garnet was first to grab a clue, which she stuffed down the front of her spandex overalls before swimming back to the dam. Reina grabbed her clue and swam back with it still in her hand.  
Both girls emerged from the water at approximately the same time; Garnet was only a split second ahead. They ran to the center of the dam where crew members strapped both of them into separate harnesses and instructed them to fall back and try to walk down the wall while releasing their clasps progressively to let out the cord and move down.  
Garnet looked down the wall and saw the shallow river below and shook her head. "This looks scarier than going up."  
"Hurry up, Garnet!" Brahne shouted below. "We can't win if you don't move your heiny!"  
"Good luck," Reina said to Garnet before leaning back and falling backwards over the dam. As intended, the clasp caught and her feet pressed up against the wall. She released the clasp and walked backwards down the wall quickly, turning it into a hop eventually.  
Having seen Reina go down, Garnet mustered up the strength to do the same. She leaned back and fell over the wall just as Reina had. She walked much more slowly and cautiously down the wall than Reina.  
Reina reached the bottom and quickly threw the gear off to join her sister. She handed the clue to Faris, who opened and read it. "Make yer way on foot ter the Pit Stop at Limberry Castle. Warning: the last team to check in may be eliminated."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel on foot to Limberry Castle located only a short distance away. The road is through Dolbodar Swamp, so it won't exactly be a pretty walk. Once through, they will travel to the front gate of Limberry Castle, which is the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here, may be eliminated."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Come on! We could be first!" Reina said happily. She and Faris consulted their map, then began running southeast to the swamp.

Just as Yenke reached the top of the dam, Garnet reached the bottom and ran her clue over to her mother.  
"They passed us!" Brahne nagged.  
"Let's not argue, we need to catch up," Garnet responded. She ripped open the clue and read it to Brahne.  
"Drat, no more chocobos." Brahne looked up at the chocobos and waved. "Bye, little Chalky!"  
Garnet and Brahne began walking quickly in the direction Reina and Faris had just left in.

Yenke jumped into the water and swam out to the clue, then swam back with it in his hand. He ran to the center of the dam and the crew there helped him get his harness on and explained how to do it.  
"Yeah yeah, Yenke knows," Yenke said to the staff. He leaned back and fell over the dam, but lost his balance and instead of having his feet against the side of the dam, he ended up with the side of his face against the dam. He paused for a moment before speaking again. "Okay, explain to Yenke again."

Reno made quick work of the dam. He went up quickly and easily, looking like he'd done it before, then took off the gear upon reaching the top. He ran to the water and quickly threw his jacket on the ground, then pulled the sunglasses off of the top of his head and placed them neatly on the crumpled shirt on the ground. He then jumped into the water and retrieved his clue, then swam back to the dam and put his jacket back on. His sunglasses were placed right back onto his head, despite it being a rather sunny day.  
He made his way to the center of the dam where he would be going down the dam. Yenke was still clumsily going down it when Reno threw the gear on with little help from the crew. The man started to explain how to do it when Reno hushed him.  
"Don't worry, dude. I've done this before, y'know?" Reno said. He jumped backwards over the ledge and let out a lot of slack before his feet finally touched the wall. He sped down the dam, passing Yenke in the process. He splashed down in the water and removed his harness as Rude joined him at the edge of the river. Reno handed Rude the clue.  
"Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop at Limberry Castle," Rude read. "Warning: the last team to check in may be eliminated."  
"Okay, let's hurry," Reno said. "I think we can still beat both those teams. At the very least we should beat the cute girl in spandex and the weird big thing."  
Rude nodded. The two quickly raced off to the southeast to venture through the swamp.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 7th Place]  
Zell and Ma reached Orbonne Monastery and quickly made their way to the book storage. They finally reached the third floor and after Zell made a comment about how messy it was, they began searching through the books.

"Found it!" Zone shouted to Watts. He held the book up and quickly started flipping through the pages. He and Watts looked through it for a short while before finally falling on the page.  
"Perfect," Watts said. He started to read the passage. "Make your way to the dam at Bethla Garrison."  
Watts and Zone stood up quietly and started walking out of the room. Zone was about to put down the book when he suddenly realized he needed the page in the book. Having lost his place but remembered generally where it was, he flipped through a few pages and re-found it, this time ripping the page from the book. They crept past Fran and Balthier as the scrounged for books.  
"Good luck, you two," Watts said to them.  
"Thank you, but we'll save that luck for another day," Balthier said. He nodded toward Fran, who held up a copy of the Germonik Scriptures.  
"Damn," Watts said under his breath.  
"Beg your pardon?" Fran asked him.  
"Err, I was saying 'dam' because that's where we're going. Your clue. It tells you we're going to a dam."  
"Thanks then," Balthier said. "Now hurry along before you say something that _doesn't_ have an easy fix."  
Zone and Watts smiled nervously, then sneaked out of the room and headed up the several stairs leading out of the book storage.

Reina and Faris wandered through the swamp, constantly glancing down at the compass. The swamp was fairly flat and easy to see, but the path was broken into several directions around the swampy waters. Once in the center of the swamp, it was difficult to tell which way was which.

"I'm sure we passed that patch of weeds earlier," Brahne commented.  
"I think we're going the right way," Garnet replied. "Come on, just a bit further! I think I see the castle!"

Gippal stood at the entrance to a stone castle with an stone arch held by strong columns in front of the castle. Boxes rested against the building behind him and a man in black robes with long silvery hair stood beside him. Gippal pointed to the approaching team as they ran up to the mat smiling.  
Faris and Reina leapt onto the mat and looked at Gippal and his guest. Reina gasped when she saw the guest. "Oh my gosh, Season 1's first elimination, Sephiroth?"  
"Sorry, no," Elmdor said. He sighed. "Welcome to Limberry Castle."  
"Reina and Faris," Gippal said, "you're team number one!"  
"Yahar!" Faris cheered and started dancing. Reina joined in the dancing as well.  
"As the winners of this leg of the race, you've won a romantic getaway for two to right here in Limberry Castle. Enjoy being treated like royalty for a week, courtesy of . You can enjoy that after the race."  
"Spendin' romantic time wit... me sister?" Faris questioned Gippal. "Arr, ye're an odd one, Gippal."  
"You can spend it with someone else too," Gippal replied with a wink.  
"Ye disgust me, Gippal. Ye may have a fantasy involvin' sisters, but I-"  
"No no, I meant- Just, never mind. Congratulations on the win."  
"Thank you, Gippal," Reina said. "I'm so glad to be at the front of the pack for once! This is where the Tycoon sisters will stay for the rest of the race. Number one!"

Garnet and Brahne dashed through the swamp and entered the Limberry Castle area. Both had worried expressions on their faces as they ran through at top speed. Suddenly, from out of the haze of the swamp, the reason for their worry emerged. Reno and Rude were barreling down on them at full speed. The speed of the two well trained Turks was easily greater than Brahne's fast waddle. Only by about ten feet, Garnet and Brahne got to the mat before them.  
"Brahne and Garnet," Gippal said. "You're team number two!"  
"Yippie!" Brahne cheered before panting heavily again. "Though I really wished the pirate sisters had gotten lost."  
"They raced a wonderful leg," Garnet added. "They _did_ come in first, right?"  
"They sure did," Gippal said.  
"So the first four to finish were women! That's great!"  
"Next two are men though," Reno said from over Garnet's shoulder.  
"Thank you, girls," Gippal said. "Would you mind stepping aside now?" The girls complied as Reno and Rude took their turn on the mat. Gippal looked to them. "Reno and Rude, you're team number three!"  
"Getting worse every leg, Gippal!" Reno said. "We've gotta get our game back, y'know?"

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 6th Place]  
"Here it is," Fran said, handing the torn page to Balthier. They got to their feet and started running up the stairs and out of the book storage. They saw Dona and Barthello in the distance as the pair made their way to Bethla Garrison.

Yenke finally reached the bottom of the dam and joined Biran, who slugged him in the arm.  
"Yenke is sorry," Yenke said. "If they would have just _let_ Yenke jump, then Yenke would have, but they would not."  
"Yenke is wasting more of Biran's time with his jibber jabber," Biran said. He ripped open the clue and read it to Yenke, then pointed him toward the direction the other teams had gone. The two Ronso then raced off into the swamp.

Fratley and Cecil helped their respective partners up to the final ledge and they all ran to the sword with the clues. Cecil and Rosa then went back the way they'd come, while Freya and Fratley slid down the steep, almost vertical, incline. Freya held her head tightly after landing.  
"You okay?" Fratley asked as he opened the clue.  
"Fine, it is just a headache," Freya responded. She listened as Fratley read her the clue, then chuckled. "Wonderful. Reading to go along with my headache. This competition had better be worth it."  
"Would you like to stop? I would think no less of you if you did."  
"No, I love this race. Inside this race I'm with you. Before this-"  
"We were together there, too," Fratley said. "But come. Let's hurry to the book storage."  
Freya nodded and the two ran to the book storage.  
Having read their clue as well, Cecil and Rosa were in hot pursuit of them.  
" _I should have left them_ ," Cecil said to Rosa.  
"That's not who you are though," Rosa said.

Biran and Yenke ran through the swamp and into Limberry Castle. They stood on the mat with their hands proudly on their hips and their backs straight. Gippal looked short by comparison.  
"Biran and Yenke," Gippal said, "you're team number four!"  
"Biran is first, but _Yenke_ is fourth," Biran said. "Yenke should have his horn removed for being a bad Ronso wall climber."  
"No, anything but that!" Yenke pleaded.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 5th Place]  
Zone and Watts reached the clue box at the dam and Zone ripped open their clue. "Roadblock: Who's ready to go dam high?"  
"Can you do it?" Watts asked him. "Or are you too afraid of heights?"  
"I think I can do it," Zone said. "But it might take me some time. And we don't know where the other teams are, except Fran and Balthier."  
"Okay, I'll do it then," Watts said. He read through the instructions, then ran to the wall to begin his ascent. He quickly mastered the technique, though his strength was lacking and he was only going up in very small increments.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 8th Place]  
Dona and Barthello entered the book storage and walked through the piles of books to find a book of their own.  
"This place is disgusting," Dona noted.  
"Tell me about it," Zell said from across the room as he searched through the books.  
"Tell _me_ about it," Ma said to Zell. "This is only half as bad as your room normally is."  
"I can clean my own room, Ma. Just stay out of there. It's fine."  
"Yeah yeah," Ma said. "Oh! I found it!"  
She pulled the book from the shelf and started flipping through it. She and Zell both watched for the colored page, then finally they found it. "Bethla Garrison," Ma said as she read a portion of the clue out loud.  
"Okay, let's jam then!" Zell said. He and Ma quickly ran out of the room as the camera focused in on the page they left in the book.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 6th Place]  
Fran and Balthier reached the clue at the dam and Fran pulled the clue out. "Roadblock. I'll do it."  
"Doing two in a row," Balthier commented. "The sidelines are nary a place for a leading man, but I suppose my time will come."  
Fran raced to the wall and joined Watts in climbing up. Once suited up, Fran started to go up, although she started off very poorly. She struggled to keep her foot in the holster and had to often stop completely to get going again. After the struggling, however, she was able to execute it very gracefully and go at a faster rate than Watts.  
Despite her fast pace, she was not about to pass Watts, who was already at the top of the dam and running over to the water behind it. He dove in and grabbed the clue, then started to swim back, when suddenly he lost his grip on the clue and it started going underwater.  
"No!" Watts shouted as he dove under to look for it. Luckily for him, it had twisted in the water and was facing sideways, so it was not sinking quickly. He grabbed the clue and this time stuck it down his shirt before swimming on.

"Here's one," Dona said. She pulled a book from the shelf and started thumbing through it for the page. She finally found it and pointed it out to Barthello. Barthello ripped the page out and they began running out of the book storage and heading toward Bethla Garrison.

Freya and Fratley were closely followed by Cecil and Rosa as they entered the book storage and started searching for books. Freya and Fratley searched the same shelf at the same time, while Cecil and Rosa decided to separate and check separate shelves.

Watts reached the bottom of the dam and read his clue with Zone.  
"Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop. Warning: don't be last," Watts joked. "Okay, we can do this!"  
Zone and Watts ran off to the swamp quickly, though both still turned to look over their shoulders at Fran on the wall.  
"She's hot," Zone said.  
"Totally," Watts replied.

Zell and Ma made their way through Dorter Trade City, when suddenly Zell called to his mother. "Ma, where are we going again? Belta something?"  
"I forget. Were we supposed to remember it?" Ma questioned. She and Zell stared at each other for a moment, then finally Ma dug through her pouch to find the old clues. "Oh, no! 'Teams must rip the red page out to take with them.' We need that page, Zelly!"  
"Oh man! We need to go really fast now, Ma."  
"I'm ready to run." Ma sprinted off back to Orbonne with Zell closely following behind her.

A water covered Fran emerged from the lake with a clue and went to the middle of the dam to begin going down the side of the dam. She went fairly quickly down and finally splashed her feet in the water as she hopped out of the safety gear and read the clue with Balthier.  
"You know, it really needs to be time for us to win one," Balthier said to Fran. "How about next leg?"  
"I was thinking the same," Fran added. They both raced off into the Dolgobar Swamp after Zone and Watts.

"Found it!" Fratley told Freya. He had already started flipping through the pages when Freya joined him to start looking. Finally he put his finger in one of the pages and pointed to the words as he read. "Make your way to the dam at Bethla Garrison."  
"You are amazing," Freya said.  
"Normally when I do something good you give me a kiss on the cheek."  
Freya complied and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Sorry for not remembering myself."  
"It's okay," Fratley said. "You actually don't do that, I just wanted you to."  
"And I will from now on."  
Fratley and Freya headed out of the book storage, though not incredibly quickly since Fratley was walking oddly from his wounded legs and Freya was struggling from the injuries on half of her body.

"Zone and Watts," Gippal said to the boys as they stepped on the mat, "you're team number five!"  
"Awesome!" Zone said.  
"That's great, Gippal," Watts added. "Hopefully we can stay in the middle like this for a while."  
"Why's that?" Gippal asked.  
"To stay under the radar," Zone said. "People notice when you're coming in first or second to last, but in the middle you're invisible."  
"Well I hope that pans out for you."

"Found one," Cecil said. He started flipping through the pages, then came to a page that was already torn out. " _The hell!? The page is already gone, dammit!_ "  
"Was it on the shelf?" Rosa asked.  
"No, the ground."  
"The ground is all the used ones. Try the shelves, sweetheart."  
" _Don't tell me what to do,_ " Cecil murmured.  
"And watch that attitude," Rosa scolded him. "Don't make me get the mirror out."

Zell and Ma ran back inside the book storage and went to where their book previously sat. The book remained in the same place, so Ma opened the book back up and thumbed through it. She was disrupted, however, by the sounds of Cecil cheering over finding his own book.  
"Here it is," Ma said. She ripped the page out of the book and led Zell outside. " _Bethla Garrison_ ," she told Zell, reading the paper as they walked up a flight of stairs.  
"I'm glad we noticed that we didn't have the clue when we did," Zell said.  
"Yes, very."

Fran and Balthier stepped onto the mat and faced Gippal.  
"Fran and Balthier," Gippal said, "you're team number six!"  
"I've had better," Balthier said.  
"It could be worse," Fran added.

Dona and Barthello reached the dam and pulled out their clue. Dona read it to Barthello. "Roadblock: who's ready to go dam high?"  
"Would you like to-" Barthello started, but Dona cut him off quickly.  
"Just do it already, Barthello," Dona said. "It looks hard and it might make me sweaty. Just go do it."  
"Yes, ma'am," Barthello said. He ran to the wall and strapped in, then started up the wall.

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in Last Place]  
"Here it is," Cecil said. He ripped the clue out of the book and read it to Rosa, then they ran out of the book storage and headed for Bethla Garrison.

Barthello was doing fairly well on climbing the dam when Freya and Fratley arrived at the clue box. Freya reached in and grabbed their clue, then read it to Fratley.  
"I don't know if I can do that," Fratley said, watching Barthello working the harness. "Both of my legs are injured. But then, you are injured, as well. I guess I shall-"  
"No," Freya said. "I'll do it. You only need one foot, and I have one good foot still. I will do it."  
"Are you su-"  
"Yes."  
"Okay, good luck, m'lady," Fratley said.  
Freya ran to the mall and started putting on the safety equipment. The crew members helped her and even gave her a couple more bandages, partly to help her and partly to keep any blood from getting on their equipment.  
Once Freya was ready to go, she hopped into the harness and sprang to life. Her powerful legs provided very large boosts upward, despite her injuries. She quickly began to gain on Barthello, which brought a smile to Fratley's face.  
Fratley moved close to Dona and began to taunt her. "I think those 'ugly rat creatures' are going to beat you," he said.  
"We'll see," Dona said, though she appeared very worried at Barthello's progress.  
"All those bad things you've done this leg are going to come back to you. The airport, Cecil and Rosa-"  
"I don't want to talk to you, so stop talking to me."  
"As you wish." Fratley walked back to Freya's side of the dam and cheered his partner on.

Freya continued to race up the side at an alarming rate, but Barthello reached the top first and dove into the water for the clue. He grabbed it from the buoy and swam back, then started to go back down the dam.  
Freya in the meantime had reached the top and started swimming for her clue. She swam awkwardly since one side of her body was injured, but after a short breather holding onto the buoy to stay afloat, she resumed her swim and joined Barthello in the middle of the dam.  
Again, Barthello had a head start, but his lead was not as large. Barthello, however, was rather quick when heading down. Freya tried to catch up but the strain only caused her headache to hurt, which was visually apparent.  
Barthello reached the bottom and Dona rushed over to him, though she first stopped to add a "you were saying" to Fratley. The two read through their clue and raced off to the swamp.  
Freya came down shortly after and handed her clue to Fratley.  
"You did great," Fratley said. "How do you feel?"  
"Like if this is not the end, then I'm going to be upset," Freya said. "I really need a nap."  
Fratley read the clue to her, which was met with a smile. "Almost there."  
The two injured racers limped slowly as they walked in the direction they hoped the Pit Stop was in.

"Dona and Barthello," Gippal said as the two joined him at the mat, "you're team number seven!"  
"It'll get better, Gippal," Dona said. "Even though we're so low, teams now know they can't mess with me."  
Barthello nodded.

Fratley walked into Limberry Castle's entryway and supported Freya, who was starting to really show signs of exhaustion. They walked to the mat and stepped on. Freya was hunched over and Fratley was rubbing her back.  
"Freya and Fratley," Gippal said, "you're team number eight!"  
"Thank you," Freya said. "Who are you again?"  
"The host. Gippal."  
"Okay. My appologies, I just-"  
"No, it's okay," Gippal said. "I was just going to say it looks like you two have been through heck today. I won't keep you busy here. I think you both could use some medical attention or at least a good night's sleep."  
"I agree," Fratley said. "Thank you."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 9th Place]  
Zell and Ma reached the clue box at the dam and Zell pulled the clue out. "Roadblock: Who's ready to go dam high? That'd be me."  
"Yes, it would," Ma said. "Be careful, Zelly!"  
"Thanks, Ma. I will." Zell ran to the wall and started throwing on his equipment when he saw Cecil and Rosa at the clue box out of the corner of his eye. He shook it off and focused on the task at hand as he threw his helmet on.

[Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in Last Place]  
"Roadblock," Rosa said. "I think you should do it. There's always the chance that Zell can't work that device, so if you can do it then we can stay in this thing."  
"Okay," Cecil said. He raced off for the dam and watched Zell all the while, hoping he would be bad at rappelling. He threw on his helmet and watched Zell take his first hop up the rope. Then another soon after. He scaled the wall quickly and almost professionally. Cecil and Rosa both shook their heads with Cecil even adding a sigh. With his gear now on, he tried to catch up to Zell, but having no experience in it, he was doing a poor job at climbing.  
Zell swam for the clue and returned with it. Once back at the dam heading down, he turned out to be just as fast at going down as up. He rejoined Ma and read the clue, then raced off with her to the Pit Stop.

Zell and Ma reached the Pit Stop and stepped on the mat.  
"Ma and Zell," Gippal said, "you're team number nine!"  
"Thanks," Zell and Ma both said.

The sky began to turn a beautiful orange color as Cecil finally reached the top and swam out for his clue at the buoy. He eventually headed down the dam wall and rejoined Rosa at the bottom. They ran through the swamp and came out in Limberry Castle. They joined Gippal and Elmdor at the mat.  
"Welcome to Limberry Castle," Elmdor said.  
"Thank you," Cecil and Rosa replied.  
"Cecil and Rosa," Gippal said, "you're the last team to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you, you have been eliminated from the race."  
"It was really fun," Rosa told Gippal. "I never would've had the opportunity to see such amazing worlds without this show. Though oddly enough, we _have_ been to the moon."  
"So what made you decide to help out Freya and Fratley? You could've just left them."  
"The old me would have," Cecil said, "but I've changed since then. Rosa was a big part of helping me change and she's going to keep helping me stay who I am. We aren't going to win by throwing others in the dirt, and if that's the reason that we lose, then so be it. But I'd much rather have my wife's respect than one million gil. I love her and I'm glad to have had this opportunity with her."  
"I love you too, Cece," Rosa said. She looked up at Elmdor. "Oh, and by the way, you _really_ do look like Sephiroth from Season 1."  
" _I'm not Sephiroth_!"Elmdor shouted.


	10. Episode 4, Part 1

The sun rose high in the sky and turned the castle surrounding Gippal a beautiful golden white. He walked through an archway with the wooden double doors leading into the castle behind him. "I'm standing at Limberry Castle. Once a base for Marquis Elmdor, a famous swordsman of Nanten, it was recently used as the third pit stop in a race around worlds. Teams raced for flights out of Rocket Town in the _Fantasy 7_ verse and teams let their true colors show. Dona and Barthello bypassed the very obvious order set up by other teams to see a travel agent and earned some enemies, only to find that Reno and Rude had already bought all remaining seats on the fastest flight to Goug Machine City in _Fantasy Tactics_ and had given them to presumably weaker teams. A slip on a rooftop later led to an injury for Freya that among other injuries, also resulted in some amnesia. Teams raced hard, and the supposedly weak team of Brahne and Garnet tricked Reno and Rude, causing them to fall behind. More cruelty by Dona and Barthello allowed them to surge ahead while Cecil and Rosa were stuck at the detour where they would not be able to catch up, making them the third team eliminated. Will Freya and Fratley overcome their injuries and stay in the competition? Will Dona continue to be a bitch, and will it help or hurt them? Faris and Reina, who were first to arrive at 3:13 pm, will depart at 3:13 am.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 1st to Depart: 3:13 am]  
Faris and Reina stood on the pit start mat outside the entrance to Limberry Castle. Torches on either side of the door highlighted the two women as Reina ripped open their clue.  
"Travel by chocobo carriage to Nelveska Temple," Reina read.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to Nelveska Temple by one of the chocobo carriages waiting just outside the castle. Once they reach a location called Zeltennia Castle, there will be chocobo ferries to take the chocobo carts to the island holding Nelveska Temple. Beside the large temple entrance will be their next clue."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"You have 200 gil for this leg of the race," Reina added.  
"Let's set sail," Faris said. She and her sister headed out to the nine chocobo carriages waiting outside the castle. Each had two chocobos pulling it and a driver, who was dressed as a chemist. Reina and Faris chose the carriage closest to the front and slid into the seats behind the driver. The seats were just wooden benches, but the girls did not seem to mind.  
"Ah, first place," Reina said. "I like it."  
"Aye. Tis a great feelin'," her sister replied. She looked to the driver. "Sir, ter Nelveska Temple if ye don' mind."  
"Heeyah!" the driver barked at the chocobos as he snapped the reins. The chocobos began trotting forward, away from the castle.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, 2nd to Depart: 3:18 am]  
Brahne ripped open her clue and immediately handed the money to Garnet to count. "Travel by chocobo carriage to Nelveska Temple. You have 200 gil for this leg of the race."  
"170, 180, 190, 200," Garnet counted. "Let's go."  
Brahne and Garnet made their way to the chocobos, where Brahne began admiring all the yellow birds before finally pointing to the carriage she determined to be the best. She and Garnet hopped aboard and headed to Nelveska Temple.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, 3rd to Depart: 3:20 am]  
"Okay, this has gotta stop," Reno said as Rude ripped the clue open. "We've gone down a position every leg so far. I am _not_ coming in fourth, y'know?"  
"Better than last," Rude said. Reno nodded his agreement as Rude read the clue to him.  
"Okay, let's take back our lead," Reno said.  
They jogged to the chocobo carriages and headed north to Nelveska Temple.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, 4th to Depart: 3:25 am]  
Biran tore through the clue and pulled out the remains. He read it to Yenke slowly, once again showing the Ronso's poor reading skills. "Travel by chocobo carriage to N... Nelvs... Nelvs-ka Temple."  
"Yenke does not know where that is," Yenke said. "Hornless chocobo driver better know or Yenke will have to break his horn off in driver's ass."  
"Yenke! Ronso _never_ joke about breaking horn unless horn belong to someone else! Like little Kimahri!"  
"Yenke is sorry."  
The Ronso found the chocobo carriages and chose one before starting their journey to the north.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris rode their chocobo carriage to the ferry at Zeltennia Castle. It slowly approached an island with a small temple on it. There were two freestanding columns out in the front. The temple itself was built into a small hill and the temple's entrance could just as well have been a large cave opening. There was a cast iron gate barring entrance into the temple.  
Reina and Faris reached the island and disembarked from their carriage. Faris gave her thanks to the driver as Reina gave her thanks to the two chocobos. She pet either of them and fed them a small plant she'd found the prior leg.  
"Don't worry, it's safe," Reina assured the driver as the chocobos finished the plant.  
The sisters then jogged to the entrance, where they were met with the dreaded 'hours of operations' sign.  
"Hours of operation, 4:00 am to 5:00 pm," Reina read.  
"At least mos' teams aren't leavin' until after four," Faris said.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Brahne and Garnet's chocobo carriage waited at the edge of the water for the second ferry, whose driver was running late. He finally showed up and loaded Garnet and Brahne's carriage just in time for the next team to arrive.  
Reno and Rude's carriage came from around a corner and started racing for the ferry. Brahne urged the ferry captain to leave without them, but he refused.

"Bet you're glad to see us," Reno taunted Garnet and Brahne. The ferry captain began loading Reno and Rude's carriage onto the ferry as well. Just as they were about to depart, the Ronso's carriage rounded the corner and headed for the ferry.  
"We can go without _them,_ right?" Garnet whined to the ferry captain.  
"Heh, sorry, ma'am," the ferry captain said as he beckoned for the Ronso to join them on the ferry.  
"Oh goodie!" Brahne cheered.  
The Ronso joined the other two teams in floating across the water to Nelveska Temple where all three teams sighed as they read the 'hours of operations' sign.  
"Well, we still have _some_ lead, y'know?" Reno said. He flopped into a sitting position and leaned against the temple.

[4:00 am: Temple Opening]  
A man disembarked from his own ferry ride and walked up to the gate with a key out. All teams were already standing and facing the gate. The man opened the lock and swung the gate open. All teams rushed inside to a clue box located barely inside the gate. Biran was the first to the box, but he was the last to finish reading the clue to his partner. Reina took the lead behind him.  
"Use the temple to enter Dwarf Village in the _Seiken 2_ verse," Reina read.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now enter the temple where they will be instantly transported to Dwarf Village in the _Seiken 2_ verse in a secret place known as Mana. Just inside the cave they will find their next clue."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Okay, we need to use this to enter Dwarf Village, I guess," Reina said. "Let's look deeper in the cave!"  
Faris and Reina ran ahead in the cave. Everything suddenly went dark. When light returned, they found they were inside a large cave. Shops and an inn were built into the walls and rock stairs led people to different levels. Small men with beards and viking helmets walked through the various stalagmites that littered the bottom floor. Directly in front of them was a clue box.  
As Reina and Faris looked around to regain their bearings, the other three teams suddenly appeared beside them.  
"Biran... Biran is confused," Biran said.  
Rude quickly jumped on the opportunity to take the lead and ran to open the clue box and grab his clue. He read it to Reno. "Detour: Forge Ahead of Forge Axe."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In this detour they must decide between Forge Ahead and Forge Axe. In Forge Ahead, teams must use the main exit to Dwarf Village and navigate through a series of cave tunnels to find the exit. Outside the cave will be their next clue. The task is not physically demanding, but some paths lead to dead ends and navigating them all could take a long time. In Forge Axe, teams must find the local blacksmith, Watts, and together learn how to upgrade an axe. The task requires a critical eye and a fair amount of strength to pound the axe into the same shape as the model provided. Working in these tough conditions with fire all around them could wear teams down, but if they are able to forge correctly, they could finish quickly. Once completed, Watts will show them a secret exit to the caves and they will be able to go outside where they will find their clue in the same clue box as those doing Forge Ahead."

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place]  
"I'm hot enough already. Let's do Forge Ahead," Reno said.  
Rude nodded. "Okay," he said, looking back at the clue.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"I could maybe help you figure out how to forge the axe, but I don't have the strength to physically help. You'd be working by yourself I think," Reina said.  
"We be gettin' better with our navigation anyway. Let's Forge Ahead," Faris said.  
"Okay!"

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 3rd Place]  
"Ooh, I'd love to make a weapon myself!" Brahne stated. "We're doing that one!"  
"But I-" Garnet started.  
"Come on, Dearie! Don't waste time arguing. Let's hurry!"  
"As you wish, Mother."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 4th Place]  
"Ronso _love_ making weapons," Yenke said to Biran.  
"As if Biran didn't know!" Biran yelled at him. "Do you not _see_ Biran's horn? Biran is best Ronso ever!"  
"Yenke is sorry. But _Biran_ is wasting time. Biran and Yenke must hurry to hornless blacksmith!"

Reno, Rude, Faris, and Reina quickly ran toward the cave's exit somewhere behind them, while the other four started climbing the stairs to the blacksmith's shop near the top left of the cave.  
Reno and Rude were first out the entrance when they were immediately faced with a choice. There was a path to their left and another to their right.  
"Pick," Reno ordered.  
"Right," Rude said.  
The Turks ran to the path to their right while Reina and Faris passed through the entrance and were faced with the same decision.  
"Do we follow 'em and try ter beat them later, or go left and hope fer the best?" Faris asked.  
"The only way to beat those two is to hope they're wrong," Reina said. "Let's try the left path!"  
Faris and Reina ran through the cave and followed a path up some stairs to their left. They soon found themselves in an area where the path circled around a large hole and led right back the way they came. Through a couple of stalagmites much too large to climb through, they could see the Turks continuing on through the cave.  
"No time fer tears, let's go back b'fore it's too late," Faris said.  
Reina nodded and spun around to go back the way they came.

Inside the blacksmith's shop were several tools and weapons along the walls. There was a large pit of fire that almost looked like lava. Around the fire pit were several workstations made from stone with one large slab of stone covering the top. On each of the slabs was a large, dull, one-sided axe. It was green in color and had a copper handle. The butt of the axe was rather fairly large. Beside it was a sharper, lighter one-sided axe. It was a dark gray color and had a wood handle. The butt of the axe was much smaller than the first axe's and the blade itself was much more slender.  
"Make the first axe look like the slim, sharp axe," Watts the Blacksmith ordered the two teams as they walked in the door. Watts was not the typical blacksmith. He was a dwarf, but instead of wearing their viking helmets, he wore the skull of a bull, which completely concealed his face.  
"Biran, _look!_ " Yenke said, tapping Biran on the shoulder. He pointed to Watts the Blacksmith's skull mask. It had two sharp horns on either side.  
" _Two_ horns," Biran said with much surprise in his voice. "We must respect powerful blacksmith."  
Yenke nodded.  
Biran picked up the dull axe with a pair of clamps and dipped it into the fire. After a few seconds, he pulled it out and Yenke hit the butt incredibly hard with the hammer. Then again and again until chunks of the axe started to fall off.  
Behind the Ronso, Watts the Blacksmith was making axes as well.  
"I think we should watch the blacksmith for a few minutes," Garnet said.  
"Oh relax, Sweetie. Just watch your mom work." Brahne picked up the hammer and hit the axe with it. There was a very loud ringing throughout the shop.  
"Do what you will, Mother," Garnet replied with her hands over her ears, "but I'm going to watch him for a while."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, 5th to Depart: 4:15 am]  
Zone ripped open his clue and read it to Watts.  
"Okay, let's go!" Watts said. He and Zone started running for the chocobo carriages that were waiting by the castle's entrance. They boarded the nearest chocobo carriage and proceeded to the north.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, 6th to Depart: 4:22 am]  
Balthier and Fran read through their clue together, with Balthier reading it out loud.  
"Two hundred," Fran said, stuffing the money into the Amazing FF Race striped pack.  
"No better way to start a day than with a morning carriage ride," Balthier said. He and Fran ran to the carriages and approached the one in front. Balthier held his hand out and helped Fran into the carriage. Once she was in, he hopped into the carriage and they headed to the north.

"We been this way yet, Rude?" Reno asked. He pointed to a staircase to the left. There was also a path to the right.  
"No, we haven't been here yet," Rude replied.  
"Well I say left. My intuition tells me left."  
Reno ran to the staircase on the left and Rude followed him. They ran up the stairs and through a passage, where they were met with three solid walls of nothing.  
"My intuition tells me you have no intuition," Rude said snidely.  
"Yeah yeah, let's go the other way. Y'know, you're crude and kind of a jerk."

Biran delivered a strong smash to the axe with his hammer and the butt of the axe broke off into a shape similar to the sample axe. He and Yenke admired their work, then presented it to Watts the Blacksmith.  
"Not sharp enough," he replied. "And you need to replace the handle with a wood one."  
"Yenke has failed!" Biran scolded his partner.  
"Yenke has not even held hammer!" Yenke yelled back. "It Yenke's turn now. _Biran_ has failed."

Across the room, Brahne was pounding away at the axe, trying to sharpen the dull blade, while Garnet continued to look at Watts' style. She returned just as Brahne had hit the axe and bent it into an awkward shape.  
"I think you broke it," Garnet said. "Mind if I try?"  
"Oh Dearie, you're not suited for this," Brahne said. She picked up the hammer and held it with both hands. She came down at the blade with incredible force, but hit nothing since Garnet had already moved the axe out of the way.  
"Try this, Mother," Garnet said. She held the axe over the fire for a short time, then put it back on the stone. "Hit it now, but not so hard."  
Brahne started smashing down on the axe. Much to her surprise, the axe started taking shape much more easily. She looked up at Garnet and smiled happily. "Oh, Dearie. Look at me! I seem to have suddenly gained immense strength! It bends so easily now! It must be all those crunches!"  
"You do crunches?"  
"Oh no, silly girl. But Nestle Crunches are so good!"  
"Of course," Garnet said. "I'm going to grab the wood handle and start attaching it."  
"Good luck, Dearie! Tell me if you need my super strength!"

Reina and Faris continued through the twists and turns of the cave. They soon found themselves with a choice between up a staircase to the left or through a path to the right. Faris looked to Reina to make the call, but then they noticed the Turks walking back from the left path.  
"Now's our chance at the lead!" Faris shouted. She and Reina quickly ran for the path to the right.  
The Turks, having seen Faris and Reina were so near them, also began running for the path the girls had just run down.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, 7th to Depart: 4:35 am]  
Dona ripped open the clue and read it to Barthello. He and Dona walked casually to the carriages and Barthello picked Dona up and placed her in the carriage gently. He entered the carriage as well and they started off toward the temple.

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, 8th to Depart: 4:39 am]  
Fratley smiled happily as he watched Freya open and read the clue. They reached the carriage and both smiled at the chance to ride in one together.

-{Freya & Fratley: Interview}-

Freya and Fratley sat on a bench with several trees behind them. Limberry Castle could be clearly seen in the background. Fratley had his arm around Freya.  
"During the time at the pit stop," Fratley began, "they gave Freya and I some much needed medical attention. Physically we're doing much better, but we've both been advised against jumping like we used to. Otherwise we should be okay. Oh, also my sweet Freya should be careful to not hit her head on anything since she still has a head wound that has not fully healed."  
"I have also recovered from the temporary amnesia," Freya said. "With all of this, I believe we are contenders in the race once again. With our injuries and position at the back of the pack, it was only by God's graces that we survived. But now, though without our leaping advantage, I believe we are on level footing."

-{End Interview}-

"Okay, let's cool it for a minute," Reno said as he broke off his jog. Rude did the same, but still stayed a step ahead of Reno. They watched Faris and Reina, who were still running down a straight, narrow tunnel about twenty feet ahead of them.  
"Why?" Rude asked.  
"Because what's the point, y'know? So they beat us to the clue box. We'll pass them soon enough."  
"I want the first place tag though," Rude said quietly, but sternly.  
"The what?" Reno asked. His face was contorted by his confusion.  
"I want to get there first so it says 'currently in first' by our names," Rude replied.  
Both Turks were quiet.  
"Good point, we should hurry," Reno finally said. He and Rude resumed their running after Reina and Faris. Soon, after running down a small flight of stairs, they found themselves splashing through a section of cave with about two inches of water on the floor. In the distance was a bright light coming from the cave's exit.  
"So close!" Reno said unhappily as Reina and Faris ran out of the caves.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris found themselves outside the cave in a small pond. The water was only slightly deeper than inside the cave and still was not even higher than their shoes. Beside the entrance was the clue box. Both girls cheered when they saw it, then Faris grabbed a clue from the box and read it out loud. "Make yer way on foot ter the Water Palace."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel on foot to the Water Palace. It is a moderate distance away and it is easy to get lost, though there are sign posts along the way that give helpful directions along the way to the palace should they follow them."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Faris and Reina waved to Reno and Rude, who were taking their clue from the box, then ran out of the small pond.  
The surrounding area was very green. Grass covered the ground and the occasional trees were tall and healthy. The area was like a canyon in a canyon. The pond was the lowest point, with a staircase leading to a second level that wrapped around the pond. Then another staircase led to a third level that was wrapped around the second level. The dwarf's cave was taller than one would expect for an underground cave. It was built into a mountain that made up one side of the canyon and had a small waterfall that dropped water into the pond.  
"No signs, but only one way ter go, and that be up," Faris said. She and Reina made their way to the first staircase.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 5th Place]  
Zone and Watts hopped from their carriage and ran to the clue just inside the temple. Watts quickly opened it up and read it. "Use the temple to enter Dwarf Village in the _Seiken 2_ verse."  
Watts put the clue away and the boys ran inside the temple. They reappeared in the Dwarf Village cave and looked around for the clue box. Watts found it and pulled the clue out, then returned to Zone, who was hunched over near where the teleportation left them.  
"What's wrong?" Watts asked. "The teleportation freak you out?"  
"Sort of, but-" Zone started talking, then dropped down to a whisper. "There are dwarves here."  
"So?"  
"So!? They're my third biggest fear!"  
"It's a waste of time, but I have to know. What are the other two?" Watts asked. He slowly opened the clue while talking.  
"Stampedes and talking to women," he responded quietly. He started to stand back up, likely from realizing it was only dwarves and not stampedes of talkative women.  
"I get the talking to women thing," Watts said. "I've always kind of assumed that was at least up the list if not the top. But... Stampedes?"  
"Mufasa..." Zone mumbled with a trembling lip.  
"I... See. I'm gonna open the clue now." He ripped the clue open and read it to Zone. "Detour: Forge Ahead or Forge Axe."  
After reading the details, Zone responded. "Forge Axe. It sounds like a skills detour. We're good with hands-on activities. Like building model trains."  
"I sure hope that's a detour someday," Watts said. "Okay, we're doing Forge Axe."  
They quickly headed off in the direction of the blacksmith's shop. They climbed up the stairs and pushed open the door just in time to see Garnet presenting an axe to the blacksmith. He nodded and showed the two ladies to the secret back entrance. The secret back entrance, which they would be using more as an exit, was a huge series of stairs, which extended so far up that from the bottom it was impossible to see the top.  
"Yes!" Garnet cheered happily, having completed the detour. Her mother cheered even louder, but said nothing directly supportive toward her daughter.  
"So many stairs," Brahne commented of the secret exit. "I'm losing so much weight from all this activity! I'll be able to fit into my cheerleading outfit again at this rate!"  
A series of "Oh God"s and "I think I'm gonna puke"s arose from the room of boys. There was even a "Now Biran must kill self!"  
Garnet ran up the stairs, though once reaching the top of the incredibly long staircase, she had to wait for her mother to waddle up behind her.  
They finally both walked through the cave's exit and opened the clue box outside. Garnet reached in and tore the clue open, then read it to Brahne. "Make your way on foot to the Water Palace."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Last to Depart: 4:51 am]  
"Back of the pack again," Zell said. "And this is our worst finish yet!"  
"We'll improve, Zelly," Ma said calmly. "Let's just focus on this leg, okay? And no tantrums. I can see one already forming in that thick little skull of yours."  
"Knock it off, Ma," Zell said, swatting away his mom's hands as she reached out for his head to further playfully taunt him.  
Ma finally ripped open the clue and read it to Zell, then the pair ran to the last chocobo carriage and headed north.

Fran and Balthier walked through the temple and found themselves in Dwarf Village. They moved to the clue box and opened it. Fran took the clue out and read it to her partner. "Detour: Forge Ahead or Forge Axe."  
"This is our luck," Balthier said. "About all we do is walk through long and winding caves. Let's Forge Ahead, shall we?"  
"Do not forget the mines," Fran added as she followed Balthier to the 'Forge Ahead' area.  
"Yes, those too."  
"Nor the tombs."  
"Indeed."  
"Nor the endless plains."  
"That's quite enough," Balthier said. "Yes, all we do is walk through mazes. We've got to be good at it by now, right?"  
"Let us hope so."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 7th Place]  
Dona and Barthello sat on their carriage as it waited on the ferry. The ferry was about to leave when a second carriage suddenly rounded the corner.  
"Go. _Now_!" Dona shouted at the ferry operator. The man shook his head 'no' and re-opened the gate to let the next carriage board. That carriage contained Freya and Fratley.  
"Thank you for waiting," Freya said to the ferry operator. Their carriage rolled onto the ferry and pulled up alongside Dona and Barthello's carriage.  
"Ugh, please," Dona whined. She turned her head away from Freya and Fratley and her palm toward them. "I don't even want to _look_ at them."  
"What a diva," Fratley commented to Freya.  
"Indeed," Freya responded. "And to make matters worse- a diva with hairy palms."  
"Ex _cuse_ me!?" Dona shouted at them. She glanced at the palm of her hand, then back at Freya and Fratley. "I do _not_ have hair on the palms of my hands like you filthy flea-covered _rats_!"  
"But she looked," Freya said to Fratley while laughing.  
"Indeed she did. Good job," Fratley laughed and high-fived Freya.  
Even Barthello began to chuckle, but started clearing his throat when Dona turned to look at him.  
"I'm going to _pretend_ I didn't hear that," Dona said to Barthello through clenched teeth.

The ferry reached the temple and the four disembarked from their carriages. Freya and Fratley trotted on ahead, still laughing though not as hard anymore. Dona and Barthello walked slowly, retrieving their clue from the clue box a good twenty seconds after Freya and Fratley.  
Freya read the clue to Fratley, then the pair ran through the temple and appeared in Dwarf Village. They quickly found the clue box and took out their clue.  
"Detour: Forge Ahead or Forge Axe?" Freya asked Fratley. Dona and Barthello came through the teleporter and grabbed a clue of their own as the rats decided their fate.

"I am thinking Forge Ahead," Fratley said. "We can navigate Cleyra's tunnels. I'm sure these will be just as difficult."  
"I agree. Besides, I know little of axes," Freya replied.  
The two ran off in search of the tunnels of Forge Ahead.

"If _they're_ going that way, then _we're_ going this way," Dona said, pointing to the blacksmith's shop. "I don't feel like walking either. I'd rather just watch you make an axe."  
"Yes, ma'am," Barthello said.  
Dona and Barthello headed up to the blacksmith's shop.

"I- I'm sorry," the blacksmith said nervously to Biran. He held an axe in his hand with a blade that curved sideways and a broken handle. "This is nowhere near good. I think you should start over, in fact."  
"Grraah!" Biran shouted just before punching a wall. The cave rattled slightly and dust trickled down from the ceiling. "Biran hates axes! Axes are most un-horned weapon in universe!"  
"Should Biran and Yenke switch detours?" Yenke asked.  
"No!" Biran shouted. He took the broken axe back from the blacksmith. "Dual-horned blacksmith is wrong! Ronso can fix axe and bring it up to his dual-horned status! Yenke just needs to work harder!"  
"Yenke will, but Yenke is scared. Ronso is in trouble."


	11. Episode 4, Part 2

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in Last Place]  
Ma and Zell reached the clue box at Nelveska Temple and opened their clue. Ma read it, then they trotted inside the temple and were whisked away to Dwarf Village. Zell made a dash for the next clue box as Ma got her bearings about her.  
"Detour: Forge Ahead or Forge Axe," Zell read. "I'd be better running through some caves, but whatcha think, Ma?"  
"I don't see myself being great at either one," Ma replied. "If I had to pick though, I'd pick the axe one. It sounds more fun, and I'm mostly here to do new, exciting things. And making an axe sounds cooler than walking through some tunnels!"  
"I'd more think _running_ through some tunnels," Zell commented. "But you're right, Ma! Let's go make an axe!"  
Ma smiled. The two started to jog toward the blacksmith's shop to start their detour.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Gar, directions on land be nothing like directions in the sea," Faris said sadly while looking at a wooden sign. The dwarf cave was well out of eyesight and the two girls stood in a grassy field, which could almost be considered a forest with the extreme quantity of trees, but there was still a large, open path that winded through the forest. "So we go... Errr..."  
Reina looked over the sign as well. An arrow pointing the way they came was labeled "Gaia's Navel." An arrow to the left read "Kippo Village." And a final arrow pointing south was labeled as "Kingdom of Pandora."  
"We go left," Reina said. "To ask directions."  
"Gyar, a pirate ne'er asks directions," Faris mumbled to herself. Still, she complied with Reina's idea and the girls ran left to the quaint town of Kippo Village. The people all looked very friendly, so the girls had no trouble running up to one of them and asking directions.  
"Excuse me, ma'am," Reina asked a woman wearing what looked somewhat like a nighty. "Do you know how to get to the Water Palace?"  
"Of course!" she said happily. "It's umm... I believe it's through Pandora! Somewhere past there anyway. I've never been. Have you?"  
"We just asked directions," Reina said confusedly.  
"Don' mind 'er, we love it!" Faris said. "And got ter go now. Bye!"  
Faris yanked Reina by the arm and pulled her toward the Kippo exit. The pair started running out of the city just in time to see Reno and Rude lurking by the wooden sign. The girls quickly turned their running into a tiptoe, but Reno and Rude turned around and saw them despite their efforts.  
"All right, ladies. This just isn't working, y'know?" Reno said.  
"What's not? Our tiptoe abilities?" Reina asked.  
"No no, this whole us racing each other. We're both at a huge advantage if we can just keep this lead, y'know? I say on behalf of myself and Rude, that we should work together this leg. This leg _only_ though, okay? If we can get enough of a lead, then we could dominate this race. Our odds of winning will be 50/50, y'know?"  
Faris and Reina turned their backs on the Turks to huddle up. They whispered to each other.  
"Whatcha thinkin'?" Faris asked.  
"It sounds like a good deal, but can we trust them?"  
"No," Faris replied, "but it only be one leg, an' if they be tellin' the truth, scallywags so they be, we could be in a good, wonderful position."  
"You're right. We'll agree to it on one condition."  
"What might that be?" Faris asked.  
"That they were at least honest enough to not run off while we had our backs turned."  
"By the Powers, yer right!" Faris jumped up and spun in the air to face where the Turks were. They were no longer there. "We been had!"  
"Had what?" Reno asked. He and Rude were standing a slight distance away, kicking rocks. "You take a long time to think. It's a race, y'know?"  
"We're in!" Reina said. "Now let's go! Toward Pandora!"  
The foursome took off jogging down the path in the direction of Pandora.

Zone and Watts returned to their axe forging station after watching a short demonstration by the blacksmith. Watts held the metal of the axe as Zone pulled out the old handle and ran to the shelves to put a new handle in. Meanwhile, Watts grabbed a pair of metal clamps and held the metal over the fire to make it more flexible.

-{Zone & Watts: Interview}-

"This detour was more physical than expected, but it was totally our thing," Watts told the camera.  
"We've built a ton of things together, so we knew our strengths and how to do everything," Zone added. "We didn't even need to speak to each other, but the teams around us were so loud and getting more and more frustrated. Mostly the Ronso, who mostly shouted at each other and their axe."  
"I'm not sure, they might've been better than Dona, who constantly nagged Barthello and told him to work harder."

-{End Interview}-

Dona leaned against the wall near Barthello's forging station with her arms crossed over her chest. "Come on, we need to be done now."  
"Dona, I'm working as hard as I can," Barthello responded. "You could-"  
"Help? How, Barthello? There's one axe. What do you want me to do? Hold it for you while you pound my fingers with your horrible aim? Or maybe do the pounding myself with the hammer I could probably not even _lift._ How could I help, Barthello? How?"

"Finished!" Watts shouted as he presented the axe to the blacksmith. The blacksmith showed them the secret exit in return. Watts high-fived Zone and shouted "Go teamwork!" fully aware that Dona was easily within earshot.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place]  
The two ran up the stairs and found the clue box. Zone ripped their clue open and read it. "Make your way on foot to the Water Palace."  
"Sounds good," Zone said. They started searching for an exit to the strange crater-like formation they were in.

"YEOWCH!" Zell screamed as he held his thumb tightly.  
Ma innocently held a hammer and instinctively hid it behind her back when her son started shouting. "OH! Zelly, I'm so sorry! I thought I had better aim!"  
"I'm fine, Ma, I'm fine," Zell said in an elevated tone. He started blowing on his thumb, hiding his face with his hands. "I just wish we could've done the cave running. This isn't fun at all."  
"I'm sorry, Zelly. But like I've always taught you, if you do something, you commit to it."  
"I know, Ma. I'm just praying I have two working thumbs by the end of this..."

"Another dead end," Fran noted of their current path.  
"I really thought we'd have better luck with this," Balthier said. "Let's try that path then."  
Fran and Balthier ran back down the path they'd come down and took a different turn than before. The new room had water on the floor and light shining through the path at the far end.  
"Ah ha!" Balthier exclaimed. He trotted through the water with Fran only steps behind him. They ran through the final archway and were outside by a clue box. Fran reached in and took out a clue. "Make your way on foot to the Water Palace."  
"Seem to be a fair number of clues left in this box," Balthier noted as he looked through the clue box. "I think we're in good shape."

"Stop, axe!" Biran yelled at his axe. "You need to look like other axe made by two-horn blacksmith! Yenke! Show axe what he need to look like!"  
Yenke complied and held the example axe in front of the axe on the workstation. "Like this!"  
Biran slammed the hammer down a couple more times on their axe, then held it up triumphantly as Yenke flagged down the blacksmith.  
"It's good," the blacksmith said.  
"Biran knows it is!" Biran yelled back, then suddenly cupped his hand over his mouth. "Biran is sorry. Biran did not mean to shout at his two-horned grace."  
The blacksmith led the Ronso to the stairs and pointed them onward. The Ronso ran up the stairs and found their way out the cave, where their next clue box awaited them.  
"Ronso can't lose," Yenke said as he pulled their clue out of the box and read it to Biran.

"Is this good?" Barthello asked the blacksmith. He presented his axe to the blacksmith, who examined it briefly, then pointed the two to the secret exit.  
"Thank _God,_ " Dona said as she picked up her belongings and handed them to Barthello to carry. She jogged in front of Barthello as they went up the stairs, then found the clue box outside. They read through the clue and quickly departed to find the Water Palace.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 2nd Place]  
The four in front ran through a grassy path to a place with a giant temple surrounded by shallow waters. Stairs led up to the marble entrance, where a clue box awaited them. Reina and Faris were first to sprint to the box, while the Turks jogged behind them several steps.  
Reina ripped open her clue and read it to Faris. "Roadblock: Who's proficient with many weapons?"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this roadblock, that team member must follow the marked arrows to a secret path leading to a nearby witch's castle. First, they must use a teleporter to gain entrance to the haunted forest. Then they must go to a series of stations, which will test their skills with several weapons. First they must use a whip to lasso a pole across a small gap, then pull themselves across. Then at the next station, they will be provided a sword to cut through several bushes that block their path. Next a large marble statue is blocking the way, so they will use a provided axe to chop it down. Finally, they will choose between a javelin, boomerang, or bow & arrow to hit a distant target. Once they hit the target, they will be given a clue and they must make their way back to the teleporter, which will require one more use of the whip to cross the gap. The task will require a lot of strength and perseverance, so teams should choose wisely about who they send."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"We're both used to many weapons," Reina said. "But I think you have more strength for it. Besides, it's your turn."  
"Aye," Faris said. "I'll do it!"

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"Okay, ready?" Reno asked. Rude nodded. "One, two, three!" Reno and Rude tapped their hands to the beat, then finally stuck out a number of fingers. Reno stuck out four and Rude stuck out two. "Dammit, you went with even this time?"  
"Roadblock's mine," Rude said with a hint of a smirk. He joined Faris in racing back the way they came where some arrows pointed to three stone pillars that created a crevice between them awaited. It was labeled with a sign that said "Roadblock Teleporter" in red and yellow.  
Faris was first to step inside. She disappeared from Rude's vision immediately, but Rude quickly joined her in teleporting into an eerie forest with a dense fog. They were on a raised plateau and were as high up as the moderately tall trees below them. Both ran along the plateau to the gap. It was only a gap of a few feet, but it was still a difficult jump, and teams were told they had to still lasso the pole, even if they could jump the gap.  
Faris was the first to the gap, and since only one pole was on the other side, Rude was forced to wait. She swung the whip above her head, then struck out at the pole. Her first attempt missed, but she quickly tried again and lassoed it perfectly on her second try. She gave it a quick tug to make sure it was steady, then ran at the gap and jumped across the gap. Just before her feet left the ground, she yanked on the whip and propelled herself even further toward the other side. She cleared the gap with no trouble, landing a couple feet away from the gap. She unhooked the whip and handed it to a staff member nearby, who passed it to Rude.

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 8th Place]  
"There!" Freya said to Fratley as she pointed to the cave opening where light poured in. They ran outside into the shallow pool and grabbed their clue. "Make your way to the Water Palace," Freya read.  
"I hope it's easier to navigate than those tunnels," Fratley added. They looked at their situation and saw the path they'd be following. The stairs for each level to get out of their navel-shaped valley were spaced on opposite sides of the canyon.  
"If only we could jump it," Freya said. "It looks like a straight shot."  
"If only."  
They sighed, then ran for the nearest set of stairs to head to the second level.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place]  
Zone and Watts continued on the path beyond the kingdom of Pandora and soon had the Water Palace in their sights, as well as Garnet and Brahne, who were by a rock nearby. Brahne was sitting down, catching her breath, while Garnet stood beside her, waiting semi-patiently to continue on.  
"Mother, people are coming," Garnet urged her mother.  
"We just can't have that!" Brahne screamed. She rose to her feet and started to jog in the direction of the Water Palace. At her slow pace, Zone and Watts easily ran past her, but were quickly passed by Balthier and Fran, whom they hadn't even noticed were behind them.  
"Sorry, ladies and gents," Balthier said, "but I think we'll be reaching that box first."  
"Stop antagonizing," Fran told Balthier, who shrugged in response.  
Zone and Watts increased their pace, but still came to the clue box at the Water Palace just behind Fran and Balthier. Garnet and Brahne crept in shortly after.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 3rd Place]  
"Roadblock," Balthier read. "Who's proficient with many weapons?"  
"Both of us," Fran said. "But I suppose it is your turn."  
"Indeed it is."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place]  
"Ugh, my stom-" Zone started.  
"Knock it off, I'm doing it," Watts said. "You need to start thinking about doing one soon though."  
"I'll try," he responded.  
"Try thinking? I- Whatever."

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 5th Place]  
" _Weapons!?_ " Brahne shouted. "Finally, my time has come."  
"Are you sure, Mother?" Garnet asked. "This really might be a difficult stamina test."  
"What about me says 'no stamina' to you, you silly girl?"  
"I- I just don't know if it would be wise."  
"Nonsense. Now step aside and watch your mother _dominate_!"

Balthier and Watts took the lead in running for the teleporter, with Brahne in a distant third. They jumped through the teleporter and ran to the whipping posts, where they saw Rude handing the whip to the staff member, having just crossed the gap. Balthier took up the whip first and started whipping at the post. He missed his first few attempts, then on a third he hit the post, but not enough to have the whip latch on.  
"Hmm. This might be harder than expected," he muttered to himself.  
Meanwhle, Rude ran down to the level below and took up a sword. Ran down a path to a second teleporter that took him to the second part of the challenge, where he saw Faris chopping at a row of bushes. There was a large patch of bushes with dividers that created nine distinct paths. Even though teams could choose between each of the paths, they were told to each pick a unique path and could not simply bypass the task using somebody else's path. Behind them was a staircase with nine statues at the top. Faris was already over halfway through her large section of bushes as he started chopping the first group of bushes.

"I'm nervous," Garnet said to Fran and Zone.  
"Nothing you can do but wait," Fran said. "Come. We'll sit by her." She pointed to Reina, who was sitting in a grassy area near the teleporter.  
Fran's blunt tone did little to comfort Garnet, but she complied and joined Fran and Zone in walking to sit with Reina.  
"Hello," Reina said to the girls and Zone. "Not really much to see over here, but it'd sure be nice to have some company. About all there is to do is wait for somebody to come back through this teleporter or watch Reno pacing by the Water Palace."  
Garnet smiled and dusted off a patch of grass to sit down before finally sitting. Fran sat beside her and stretched out her legs and arms, then lay back and watched the clouds. Zone moved to sit down, but then suddenly noticed that he was standing in the middle of three girls, all of whom were attractive and one of which had just stretched out her long, smooth limbs very seductively.  
"I uhhh, I should go pace with the umm, guy," Zone stammered and tried (but failed) to casually walk out of the circle of girls.  
"Nonsense, have a seat!" Reina said to him.  
"I uhh, suuuure. Yeah. Okay. Why... Why not?" He took a seat between Garnet and Reina and leaned back on his hands, not noticing Reina's hand already occupied where he was placing his right hand. After quickly noticing he was crushing her hand, he quickly pulled it back. "Oh, I uhh- gah! Sorry sorry!"  
"It's okay," Reina said. "I'm just glad I got a cute boy to sit with us girls."  
"It _is_ nice," Garnet added.  
"Oh gosh," Zone muttered as he curled into a ball. "Watts... Hurry."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in Last Place]  
"That looks like an axe!" Zell shouted. He handed the axe to the blacksmith, who nodded and pointed him upstairs. Ma and Zell quickly ran up the stairs and outside to the clue box. Ma pulled out the clue and read it. "Make your way to the Water Palace."  
"No time to waste, either. Let's go, Ma."

"Hiya!" Faris shouted as she took up her newly acquired axe and chopped at the statue. The blade went halfway through the statue before stopping. She yanked the axe out and with one quick glance back at Rude, who was still in the middle of the bushes, she chopped at the statue again and shattered it. She quickly dropped the axe and ran along the path, following it to another teleporter. Faris teleported to the final location, where there was a rope separating them from a small target a short distance away. On a table beside her was a selection of long-range weapons. She examined them, then opted for the bow & arrows. She took aim and fired at the target, hitting it on her first try.  
"Yah har!" Faris cheered as a man handed her a clue. She ran back down the path, passing Rude,who was still working on the bushes, and Balthier, who was past the whipping post and heading to the bushes. She reached the whipping post from the alternate side now and took up a second whip and tried to lasso the post on the opposite side where Watts was currently trying to whip the post on _her_ side.

"You only get five attempts, then it's her turn," a staff member told Watts, referring to Brahne who waited behind him. "Also you must alternate attempts with the person on this side and stay back when it is their turn to avoid whipping each other."  
Watts agreed and took his first attempt. He lashed out at the pole, but failed to latch on with his first attempt. It was then Faris's turn. She struck out at the pole, but also failed to latch on.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 6th Place]  
The Ronso reached the Water Palace and opened the clue box. Biran read it to Yenke.  
"Biran is mightiest Ronso! He should do hornless roadblock!"  
"Yenke agrees. Biran is mighty and will destroy competition!" Yenke added.  
Biran ran to the teleporter cheering, then disappeared into the haunted forest. He quickly came up on the line for the whip, waiting right behind none other than Brahne.  
"The sweet Lord blesses me again!" Brahne said as Biran arrived.

Faris took her turn to whip the pole and finally latched on and pulled herself across. She cheered and picked up the clue that had fallen out of her hand in the process, then ran to the teleporter.

"Those trains sure sound fun," Reina said to Zone, who had just finished explaining his model trains.  
"I love them," Zone said. "Here, let me show you a picture!" He reached into his backpack and pulled out a small binder of pictures, but as he yanked the binder out, it caught the zipper and the contents of his bag spilled on the ground. Zone quickly scrambled to pick up his belongings, obviously hunting for one item in particular, which Reina found at her feet.  
"Ooh, a chocobo magazine!" she said happily, looking at the front cover with a woman wearing no apparent clothes hiding seductively behind a chocobo's wing. "Girl Next Door," she read the cover. "Neat!" She quickly opened to a random page, where her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped slightly. "I- Oh! I see."  
"Oh no!" Zone shouted. He lunged for the magazine, but Reina pulled it away.  
"What an interesting magazine," she said. "It's a cute picture though. She has an adorable dog that she's petting... while nude."  
"It's her Deling Sheepdog," Zone said without seeing the picture. "The uhh, woman has several dogs, but that one is her favorite. Its name is Pepper because of the black speckles in the fur. Also because it's a sheepdog named Pepper is why her screenname is peepdog- err, at least so she claims."  
"You sure know your stuff!" Reina said.  
"I read that a lot- err, I read a lot. And um, I like- you know. Retain information. I don't look at that magazine a lot, of course, but it's err," Zone continued to stammer on for quite some time, when suddenly Faris popped through the teleporter.  
"Yes!" Reina shouted. She tossed the magazine to Zone and hopped to her feet. "Nice meeting you!"  
Reina joined Faris in the corner away from other contestants, yet somewhat near Reno, as Faris read the clue aloud. "Make yer way by _cannon travel_ ter the Upper Lands."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now make their way to a strange forest known as the Upper Lands using a common method of travel known as 'cannon travel.' A short distance from the Water Palace is one of the cannon travel men, who will send the teams to the Upper Lands by loading them into a cannon and firing them several miles away to the forest."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"This be a dream o' mine," Faris said. "Cannons be a great love of mine, an' e'er since a dream I had, I been wantin' to be a cannonball, blasting through some mangy dog's hull... 'Twere a weird dream."  
"I... see," Reina said. She glanced at the clue. "Oh, there's more! Warning: delay point ahead."  
Reina and Faris ran through the only path out of the Water Palace area back the way they'd come, then headed for a split in the road they'd seen previously.

Watts finally lassoed the pole tightly and jumped across the gap. He failed to clear the gap, however, and his feet hit the side of the cliff. He was only a few inches from the top, so rectifying this mistake was not too difficult. He took a couple small steps and pulled on the whip he used as a rope, then reached the top. He unhooked the whip and handed it to the staff member, then ran through to the next area with the bushes.

Rude approached the target area for the long range challenge and selected the boomerang, which he gripped tightly and threw at the target like a baseball instead of a boomerang. The boomerang was about to hit the target, but hit a wind pocket at the last second and twisted away. He glared at the target, then reached over and grabbed the javelin. He sized up the target, then threw the javelin directly into the target. He took the clue he was given and quickly started his return to the entrance.


	12. Episode 4, Part 3

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 7th Place]  
Dona and Barthello reached the Water Palace and received their clue from the box. Barthello read the roadblock out loud.  
"Yours," Dona said quickly.  
"But- Dona!" Barthello interjected. "If we plan on winning, I cannot do every roadblock. I can only do six total. Are you sure I should be doing all of them?"  
" _Yes,_ Barthello," she snapped. "If I said it to you, then I'm sure." She glanced to the group of people waiting at the teleporter and noted who was in the crowd. "Wait, the smelly _rats_ aren't here? And the _princess_ is letting her _mother_ do it? Barthello, please. I can do this one. Stop _hogging_ the roadblocks."  
"I-" Barthello started, then regained his composure. "Yes. You're right. This one should be yours."  
Dona marched to the teleporter and entered, while Barthello walked to the group of women and stood near them with his arms folded across his chest. The girls all seemed shocked that Dona was doing her first roadblock.

Rude exited the teleporter and ran to join Reno, who gave a quick hoot of joy. They read through the clue, then raced off to try to find Faris and Reina and the cannon travel.

Brahne gave a fierce growl, then whipped at the post. It latched on and she tugged it to make sure it was sturdy, then ran at full speed and jumped across the gap, falling well short of the required distance. She fell downward but held the whip tightly, when suddenly the post began to be swayed by her weight and started to uproot itself. The staff quickly grabbed their own ropes and equipment and tied it onto the pole and pulled in the opposite direction with all their might to steady the pole. Brahne slowly climbed up the whip as the staff began to sweat more and more heavily over the gigantic load they were essentially holding up.  
Meanwhile, Biran and Dona waited impatiently for Brahne to pull herself up so they could get to the other side.

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 8th Place]  
Freya and Fratley reached the Water Palace and pulled their clue from the box. "Roadblock: Who's proficient with many weapons?" Freya read.  
"I can do it," Fratley said. "Please, stay here and rest until I return."  
He raced off to the teleporter and stopped behind Dona to wait for a turn at the whipping.  
"Oh _gawd,_ " Dona said as he arrived.  
"Goodness!" Fratley said suddenly, looking completely past Dona and at Brahne, who was dangling from the whip with her stubby legs kicking wildly. He ran to her aid and slid down by the gap and reached his arm down to help. Biran followed suit and also reached down to help. They each grabbed ahold of Brahne, one under one armpit and the other under the other, then lifted with all their might. With the combined force of Fratley, Biran, and Brahne (not to mention the staff), she finally reached the top and stood back on her own two feet. Everybody heaved a loud sigh of relief.  
"Thank you, my furry heroes!" Brahne said to Fratley and Biran. She blew them both one giant kiss, then turned and trotted down the stairs and jogged to the next room, where she took up a sword and started chopping at the bushes.

Balthier lined up his shot with his bow and arrow, then fired off a shot at the target. It connected right in the middle and Balthier grabbed his clue before heading back to the entrance.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris reached the cannon travel, which was a lot scarier than either had imagined. There was a small platform with stairs leading up to it. At the bottom of the stairs was a scruffy man that had hair like a barbeque scrubbing brush and wore a pair of soot-covered goggles. At the top was an extremely large cannon pointing out over the trees.  
"They're kidding, right?" Reina said to Faris, but her sister had already gone up the stairs and slid into the cannon. "In... there?"  
The scruffy man nodded.  
"Oh goodness," Reina said. She quickly shrugged her fears off and ran up the stairs and slid into the cannon.  
The scruffy man checked that they were in properly, then pushed a button on a remote control. The cannon exploded in a puff of grey smoke and Reina and Faris were sent flying _extremely_ high into the air. They spun around and were both tucked tightly into a ball-shape. They flew for only a short while before decending into a section of snow-covered trees.  
They landed in a very large air-filled mattress to keep the racers from harm. Both laughed and cheered, then jumped out of the bag and found a clue box nearby. The surrounding area was snowing very lightly; just enough to keep the ground and trees covered with white. Beside the clue box was a 'yield' mat.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"This is the second of six delay points along the race. A yield can be used to force a team to stop for a predetermined amount of time. If a team has been yielded, they must stay at the yield until the hourglass is empty before they can continue. Teams may only use a delay point once, so they must decide when it is most advantageous to use it."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris moved to the yield mat and faced the camera. "We choose not to yield," Reina announced. She then grabbed a clue from the clue box and read it to Faris. "It says: 'Walk the seasons Spring to Winter. Spring again and we can enter.'"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now decipher a clue relating to their current environment. In the surrounding forest are various sections that look like the four seasons of the year: Spring, summer, autumn, and winter. They must start in spring, then walk in the correct order: spring, summer, autumn, winter, then spring once again. Once successful, they will be handed their next clue."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"..that be it?" Faris asked.  
"That's... all."  
"We should figure this out, sis. Put yer thinkin' hat on."

Biran finally whipped the post and pulled himself across to the other side, then ran down the stairs to search for the next area. He found Brahne chopping away at bushes. She was sweating a lot and was not even halfway through. Watts was just up ahead, taking several swings with his axe at the marble statue. He had made a large dent in the side, but the statue still was not down.

Back at the whipping post, Balthier was taking his turn trying to lasso the way back, but failed. He stepped back to allow Dona a turn. She flicked out her whip but did not hold the handle tightly enough, so the whole whip shot out of her grip and landed on the other side. Balthier ran forward and stepped on one end of the whip before the weight of a portion of the whip that dangled from the cliffside forced the entire thing to slide off. He pulled the whip up and handed it to the staff.  
"I guess that makes it my turn," he said. He whipped the post and caught it snugly, then pulled himself to the other side. He raced back to the teleporter and teleported outside, where he collected his bag and Fran. They read the clue, then proceeded to the cannon travel center.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in Last Place]  
Zell and Ma ran to the Water Palace and grabbed their clue.  
"I'm glad to see so many teams here," Ma said before reading the clue. "Roadblock: Who's proficient with many weapons?"  
"That's me!" Zell said. "I'm a SeeD. We're trained in all sorts of forms of combat! But it's your turn to do a roadblock. And my thumb hurts."  
"Stop whining, Zelly. We need to catch up, so you go in and make your mama proud."  
"Yes, Ma." Zell said. He raced to the teleporter and waited in the line behind Fratley. "Glad to see I didn't miss the party," he said to Fratley.  
Fratley smiled and looked over his shoulder at Zell. "And with any luck," he whispered, "you won't be at the tail end of things soon." He glanced at Dona. "She's only two attempts away from moving to the back of the line."  
"Yessssss," Zell cheered quietly, but still included an arm thrust.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 2nd Place]  
The Turks plopped down on the large inflated mattress in the Upper Lands. They wasted no time in finding the yield mat.  
"We refuse to yield," Reno said. He ripped open the clue and read the rhyme to Rude. "Any ideas?"  
"No," Rude said. "Maybe the trees have words written on them like seasons or months."  
"Heeey, there's usin' the ol' noodle!" Reno said. "Let's check the trees or for like, writing in the snow, y'know?"

Reina and Faris followed a path that led them to a new area. It was like walking back in time, because the trees were suddenly not white from snow anymore, but instead were brown and yellow and other fall colors.  
"This must be what it means! We were just in winter, and now we're in autumn!" Reina said. "Come on, let's keep running and find spring!"

"The girls went this way," Rude said, pointing to footprints in the snow that were starting to fade.  
"Good job, dude!" Reno said. "That's good eyesight. And I think it makes up for your bad eyesight on leg two, y'know? Good job, pal. Now let's do what Turks do best and follow them. And of course, pass them at the last second, y'know?"  
"Right."

Watts crashed through the statue and started running for the long range section just as Brahne reached her own statue. She picked up the axe and panted a couple times, then screamed a mighty battle cry and brought down the axe directly on top of the statue. The force shattered the statue in one shot and Brahne waddled on to her next station.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," Dona said as the whip failed to latch onto the post.  
"Next person's turn," the staff member said.  
She handed the whip to Fratley and made her way to the back of the line. He stepped up and lashed the whip out toward the pole. It hit, but failed to stick.

Watts approached the target area and grabbed the boomerang. He held it like a frisbee and spun it at the target. It had decent aim, but not enough force as it stopped short and returned to him.  
Much to his shock, Brahne then entered the area and started looking over the weapons. She smiled evilly when she saw the javelin and took up the powerful spiked weapon. She hurled it at the target, but missed. She went back to the table and picked up another javelin. While she was picking a new one up, Watts threw his boomerang again and missed. He caught the boomerang as it returned to him, then quickly threw it out again, this time connecting with the target. He was handed his clue afterwards.  
"Sweet," he said. "Good luck, Ms. Brahne."  
"And to you too!" she hollered back. "Toodles!"

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 3rd Place]  
"You _must_ be joking," Balthier said as he looked at the giant cannon.  
"Don't worry, you're the leading man," Fran said as she grabbed the top of the cannon and slid in one leg, then the other. "The leading man isn't afraid of something as harmless as this, is he?"  
Balthier sighed. "One day, you'll be the death of me." He joined Fran and slid into the cannon. The cannon shot them out across the skies and and they flew to the forest and landed in the inflated mattress. Both rolled out quickly, then looked at each other.  
"Well?" Fran said. "You're alive."  
"And bringing a whole new meaning to the term 'sky pirate.' I rather like it."  
Fran and Balthier ran to the yield mat and faced the camera. "We shan't yield," Balthier said, then took a clue from the box. "Walk the seasons spring to winter. Spring again and we can enter."  
"Reminds me of home," Fran said. "Let's look around."  
Fran and Balthier walked to the south and found that at a certain point, the trees were not white, but instead pink. They were covered with blooming pink flowers instead of the white twigs where they started.  
"This is, without a doubt, spring," Fran said.  
"Back to winter then?" Balthier asked.  
"No, it says walk the seasons. Going from spring to winter then back to spring is hardly walking. Let's find summer."  
"I'll never question a Viera when it comes to hidden paths and rhymes." Balthier pointed to an area in the Spring section where a man stood holding their next clue. "Once we walk the seasons, I believe he'll give us our next clue."  
"I agree."

Watts reached the whipping post again in time to see Fratley making his final attempt at getting across. The whip lashed out and snagged the post firmly, so Fratley ran at the gap and jumped off, making sure his best leg provided the force of his jump. He was unsteady at first, but he regained himself as he pulled on the whip and cleared the gap. He looked back at Dona and smiled before gracefully walking behind Watts and down the steps.  
He finally reached the bush cutting area, where Biran was just finishing up. He cleared the last bush, then chopped down the statue with as much ease as Brahne. He ran like a truck to the final area, where Brahne was failing at hitting the target with her javelins.  
"No no no, that horrible way to throw," Biran said. Brahne instantly perked up when she heard his voice. Biran walked to the table and grabbed his own javelin, then hoisted it above his head. "This how a _Ronso_ throw spear!" He hurled the javelin directly at the target and though it was not dead-center, he hit the target and took his clue. "Shoopuf lady need to hurry. Biran and Yenke want her and hornless summoner daughter to not be eliminated."  
Brahne nodded, then grabbed a javelin and scowled at the target. She let out her warcry and threw the javelin at the target. it barely knicked the corner, but she was presented with a clue nonetheless.  
"Biran is glad," Biran said before running back toward the whipping post.

Watts exited the haunted forest and collected Zone, who was still a bit shaken from an awkward conversation with Reina. They ran together toward the cannon travel. Watts knew better than to say anything to Zone, who seemed to have a lot on his mind right now.

Reina and Faris walked into an area with green grass, green trees, and a blue lake in the middle. They walked in from the north and immediately noticed Fran and Balthier walking in from the west.  
"Spring?" Reina asked Fran.  
"Autumn?" Fran asked.  
Reina looked to Faris for confirmation to tell her, and Faris nodded. "Yep."  
"This is spring," Fran replied.  
"Are you all working together then?" Balthier asked as Reno and Rude came into sight.  
Reina and Faris spun around and saw the two Turks following them. "Oh. I- I don't-"  
"Hurry!" Faris ordered Reina. They started running toward spring and the Turks quickly gave chase. Fran and Balthier also chose to run toward autumn just in case.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place]  
Watts and Zone landed in the fluffy mattress, this time both in Zone's famous fetal position.  
Watts pulled Zone from the mat. "That. Was."  
"Scary," Zone said.  
"Awesome."  
They started to walk toward the yield mat, when suddenly they saw Balthier and Fran running into their wintery section. Thinking they were racing for the yield, Watts and Zone quickly sprinted to the yield mat. "We choose to yield nobody." Watts said quickly to the camera. He watched Fran and Balthier for a split second as they ran by without stopping at the yield mat. "I... guess we're jumping at shadows." He took a clue from the box and read it out loud.  
"They ran that way," Zone said. "Calculate it. Do we go the way they came? Or where they went?"  
"It says 'spring again,' so we should follow them. If I'm reading this right, we just have to follow them to the _end_ , and that'll also be our beginning."  
"That's what I think, too," Zone said. The pair ran to the south and followed Fran and Balthier to the area of brightly colored pink trees. They saw them approach a man in the corner, who handed them a clue.  
"That means this is spring," Watts said. "Now let's just figure out how they got umm... here."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place]  
Balthier took the clue they were given and read it out loud. "Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop at the Wind Palace. Warning: the last team to check in may be eliminated."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must travel a short distance to the Wind Palace. The last team to check in here, may be eliminated."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place]  
"That's probably it," Balthier said. He pointed to a large building that looked similar to the Water Palace, save the shallow waters. The Wind Palace was instead built on a small plateau just beyond a small shambles of a village.  
Fran and Balthier jogged to the north and entered the large doors of the Wind Palace. Just inside, in front of a pyramid with a seed in a box at the top, was the Pit Stop mat, Gippal, and an old man with pointed ears who seemed to be asleep. They ran to the mat and stepped on... and waited.  
Gippal finally nudged the old man.  
"Huh? Wha? Oh, sorry," he said. "Welcome to the Wind Palace."  
"Fran and Balthier," Gippal said, "you're team number one!"  
"About time I'd say," Balthier said as he hugged Fran.  
"As the winners of this leg of the race, you win an elemental named Sylphid."  
A small, blue djinn suddenly appeared, floating in mid-air just over the old man's shoulders. He wore puffy yellow pants. "You called?"  
"These two are your masters now," the old man explained to Sylphid.  
"You're always giving me to new people! Gah! The hell, man? I'm not your slave!"  
The old man waved his hand and Sylphid disappeared. "He's always cranky when he gets a new master. Just summon him whenever you want."  
"But not on the race," Gippal said with a laugh. "Feel good to be first place?"  
"Hopefully," Balthier said. "It might make us more of a target, but what do you expect from a leading man?"  
"Well, congrats, guys. I pegged you for serious competitors, so it's nice to see you rise up."

Zell finally whipped the post, then jumped the gap and reached the other side. Dona quickly took up the whip and vigorously attacked the other post. From whipping it so quickly, it didn't take long before it got tangled around the post. She jumped for the other side, but missed and swung into the cliffside. A big puff of dirt fell on her as she whined for Barthello to help her.  
Directly above her, Biran whipped the opposing post and leapt across the gap. He made his way outside and joined Yenke. They read their clue and headed off to find the cannon travel.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"I can't run anymore," Reina huffed and wheezed as they reentered the spring area. The Turks were right on their heels.  
"Well those two can, so run yer ass off!" Faris urged her on. They found the man with the clues and grabbed theirs, then read it quickly and started power-walking to the north.  
Reno and Rude grabbed their own clue only a moment after the girls grabbed theirs, then read their clue and ran to catch up.  
The girls reached the doors to the Wind Palace, when suddenly the Turks emerged from behind them and ran in front of the two girls. They ran full-force to the mat and beat the girls by a couple seconds. Gippal motioned for them to scoot over so that Faris and Reina could join them.  
"Reno and Rude," Gippal said, "you're team number two. Faris and Reina, you're team nu-"  
" _Two!?_ " Reno interrupted. "No way! I thought- Oh, sorry, Gippal. Didn't mean to interrupt, y'know? I just forgot about that pretty boy and the sexy bunny."  
"...Okay. Faris and Reina, you're team number three!"  
"We'll take it," Reina said. "It was a pretty tough leg, and we raced with these two almost the whole way! It was intense."

Zell attacked the bushes with horrible form, but wonderful speed and devotion. Just ahead of him, he saw Fratley attacking a statue. He made very precise cuts, but the statue was only losing pieces instead of falling over entirely. Zell chopped through the final bush just as Fratley knocked down the last of the statue. Zell dropped the sword and picked up the axe, then started chopping at his own statue.

"Dearie me, let me help you!" Brahne said to Dona. She reached down into the gap and helped Dona pull herself up. "Be careful now, sweetheart."  
"I was fine," Dona sulked. She ran down the stairs and ran to the next section where she picked up a sword and started chopping the bushes. "Ugh, I _hate_ this game."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 5th Place]  
Biran and Yenke flew through the skies from the cannon travel and crashed down on the inflated mattress. As soon as they hit, the mattress started squealing and air shot through a hole in the top.  
"What happened?" Biran asked.  
"When Yenke landed, Yenke pierced hornless human air-filled thing! With Yenke horn!" Yenke said triumphantly.  
"Biran is so proud. Yenke growing up so fast."  
Biran and Yenke ran to the yield mat and looked at the camera. "Biran has already used his delay and cannot use another. And Yenke never get one, so no more delay for Ronso."  
Yenke read through their clue. "Walk seasons spring to winter. Spring again, Ronso can enter."  
The Ronso continued to stare at clue without speaking. They replaced words with glances at each other and scratching their heads.  
"Clue... not tell Biran where to go?" Biran said. "That make Biran angry! Worthless hornless clue not even good! Biran want new clue! Yenke! Get _real_ clue from box! Yenke has failed and picked a miserable clue again!"  
"Yenke thinks _all_ clues not tell Ronso where to go."  
"That not make sense to Biran. Biran will do what Biran always does! Follow somebody else around and intimidate them!"  
"Yenke too!"

Zell finished off his statue and entered the final area of the roadblock. Fratley was already there, lining up his shot with the javelin. Zell headed over and found a boomerang sitting on the table.  
"All right! A boomerang! I love these kinds of things!" He threw the boomerang out and hit the target immediately. "Oh, sorry Frat-Rat. Hope I didn't throw you off."  
Fratley threw the javelin and nailed the target right in the middle.  
"No, you did not," Fratley responded.  
Zell smiled, then quickly raced Fratley for the teleporter. Both ran with their clues in hand and tried to pass the other in reaching the whipping poles. Zell's headstart proved helpful as he stayed ahead the whole way and reached the poles just before Fratley. Both, however, had to still wait for Brahne, who struggled with the whip again.

"That should do it," Zone said as he and Watts entered spring for a second time. They started to walk to the man with the clues, when Zone noticed Biran and Yenke watching them.  
"What?" Watts asked them, having caught Zone's glances behind him.  
"Ronso were given defective clue," Biran said. "Need hornless humans to tell Biran what to do."  
"Sorry, guys. It's a race and we can't be helping other teams."  
With that, Watts and Zone ran to get their clue, then headed north for the Wind Palace.  
"Zone and Watts," Gippal said as they reached the mat, "you're team number four!"  
"Perfect," Zone said. "We like it here."  
"Why?"  
"We're flying under the radar," Watts explained. "Staying around fourth or fifth keeps us relatively unnoticed. We're not a threat, so nobody will try to knock us out, but we're not horrible, so nobody will use us as a safety net, sacrificial lamb sorta thing."

"There we are!" Brahne cheered as her whip stuck on the pole. She took a running start, then jumped across the gap, once again falling short. Zell and Fratley quickly lent a helping hand to pull her up. After a few minutes of struggling, she was up and on her way out.  
"Garnet, dear!" Brahne called as she teleported in. Garnet seemed surprised to see her mother _not_ the absolute last.  
"Good job, Mother!" Garnet shouted. They opened the clue and read it, then made their way to the cannon travel center.

Zell yanked on the whip and flung himself across the gap. He threw the whip back to Fratley. "Good luck, Frat-Rat!" he shouted. "Go quick before that mean woman gets here. Knock her out!"  
"Indeed I shall," Fratley replied.  
Zell ran outside and collected Ma before reading the clue.  
"I'm so proud of you," Ma said.  
"Thanks, Ma," Zell said. They headed off to find the cannon travel center as well.

Sweat rolled down the scruffy cannon travel man's head as he helped pack Brahne into the cannon, then had Garnet slide on top. He closed his eyes as he hit the button to fire them off, then gritted his teeth when he heard them explode out the cannon. Brahne and Garnet fired out across the forests and soon came down on the inflated mat. Air exploded out the holes created by Yenke and expanded tenfold. The mattress was nearly obsolete as crew members jumped on to repair the holes and fill it with air again.  
Garnet and Brahne reached the yield mat and jumped on. "We're not yielding," Garnet told the camera.  
"Yet," Brahne added.  
Garnet grabbed her clue and read it. Suddenly, the Ronso emerged from the spring area.  
"Ronso need help!" Yenke said.  
Biran backhanded Yenke in the chest. "What Yenke _mean_ is, Ronso think it pathetic that hornless summoner not know what to do."  
"Hornless!" Yenke piped in.  
"What do you know about this area?" Garnet asked Biran. "Is there something around related to seasons? We're in a winter wonderland here, so maybe other seasons are around?"  
"Biran just know that down _that_ path is very pink. Ronso not like pink. Except on flowers."  
"And cookies," Yenke added.  
"Okay, so we need to start in spring and walk back to here, then to spring again!"  
Garnet led Brahne to do just that as they departed for spring, then continued on to look for summer.  
"Biran know shortcut," Biran said to Yenke. He stepped in spring, then jumped back to winter, then back into spring. They ran to the man with the clue and demanded theirs, but he shook his head 'no.'  
"No!?" Biran shouted. "Yenke, quick! Find hornless summoner and follow her!"

"I _hate_ this," Dona said as she threw boomerang after boomerang at the target. "I wish Barthello never watched TV." She finally threw a boomerang that barely tapped the corner of the target. She was handed her clue, which she ripped out of the staff member's hand and ran off with a final " _Ugh! Finally_!"  
She reached the whip point, where Fratley was struggling to grab the other side. "Oh, _gawd,_ it's down to me and you?"  
"You and me," Fratley corrected. He took several attempts at the whip, but failed to latch on. A crew member made him give the whip to Dona, who gave five lashes of her own. All five failed and Fratley regained the whip. "It seems it is all coming down to this," Fratley noted, hoping to worry Dona. "I look forward to a race to the finish with thee."

"This ain't it, Ma!" Zell said. They were inside a large house where a giant cat was trying to sell them overpriced merchandise.  
"Umm, Mr. Cat, please," Ma said, "where is the cannon travel?"  
"Buy some candy, then I'll tell you," the cat said.  
"We don't have _time_ for this," Zell said. He reached in his pocket, then threw some gil on the table.  
The cat looked down at the money. "A little more, please," he said.  
"Oh my _God_ that's expensive candy!"  
"Zelly!" Ma yelled at him, adding a smack to the back of his head. "Taking the Lord's name in vain, _and_ yelling at an innocent kitty cat. I didn't raise you like this!"  
"But the Frat-Rat was right behind me, and that annoying girl Dona will finish soon enough too! We're probably in last, and we're here buying candy from this.. this..."  
"Neko," the cat said. "My name is Neko."  
"Zelly..." Ma urged.  
"...Okay, Neko," Zell finally said. "I'm sorry. Sorry for losing my temper." Zell handed the rest of the gil to Neko.  
"Thank you!" Neko shouted. "The cannon travel is east of here. It's really purr-etty close!"  
"Thanks, cat," Zell said as he darted out the door. Ma waved to Neko and grabbed the candy they'd bought before following her son.

Garnet and Brahne were closely followed by Biran and Yenke as they reached spring for the second time (or about fifth for the Ronso) and received their clue from the man. They ran north to the Wind Shrine and ran in to the Pit Stop mat. They all four stepped on at the same time.  
"Brahne and Garnet, Biran and Yenke," Gippal said, "you're team numbers five and six! How does that make you feel?"  
"Relieved," Garnet said. "I was so scared that Mother had to do an entire physical detour by herself. I'm very proud of her for completing it."  
"Aww, that's so sweet, dearie," Brahne said. "But never never doubt your mother. She'll _always_ dominate and destroy the competition!"

Fratley's whip finally snagged the other side and he pulled himself across. He handed the whip to the staff member and ran outside to join Freya.  
"We have no time to lose," Fratley said. "Dona is right behind me." He read the clue to Freya, then they took off running for the cannon travel center.

Zell and Ma landed safely in the Upper Lands forest and rolled out of the inflated mattress, which was held together by large band-aids. They ran to the yield mat and looked at the camera.  
"We do not-" Ma started.  
"Wait, Ma!" Zell shouted. "If we're not in last, we're close to it. I think we need to yield somebody."  
"Who's behind us though?" Ma asked. "The only teams that _could_ be behind us are the friendly rats and that unfriendly woman and her muscular friend."  
"But we got lost, Ma. I know Frat-Rat can do that whip thing, so he's probably in front. Our only chance is," Zell started digging through the pictures and Ma posted their own picture under the "yielded by" section. "Them!" Zell held up a picture of Dona and Barthello. "Should we do it? We still don't know that anybody is behind us. Maybe we should just hurry our butts up and beat people in a foot race!"  
"We should still put this up, just in case," Ma said, pointing to Dona and Barthello's picture. Suddenly, there was a loud noise as the mattress shot out air through the hole that opened back up and Freya and Fratley rolled out of the mattress.  
"No, no! This one!" Zell said. He dropped the stack of pictures after finding Freya and Fratley's picture in the pile, then slammed it against the yield board. "We choose to yield Freya and the Frat-Rat!" he told the camera. "Really sorry, guys!" Zell shouted to Freya and Fratley, who were still more or less disoriented by the fall.

"What just happened?" Freya asked Fratley. He shrugged until both came into view of the yield board with their pictures on it. "That rat bastard!"  
"Freya!" Fratley yelled.  
"I mean, umm, that jerk?"  
Fratley rushed over to the yield mat and found the sand timer. He flipped it over and watched the sand drain out with Freya.

"Will this horrible roadblock never end?" Dona whined as she whipped over and over at the post. Finally, the whip caught and she jumped across, much more gracefully than before. She ran out of the haunted forest and joined Barthello.  
"Dona, you're... dirty," he noted.  
"And it's all your fault, too," she replied. "Now hurry, we're in last and I'm _not_ going to get dirty without winning a million gil." She ripped open the clue and read it to Barthello, then the pair ran to find the cannon travel center.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 7th Place]  
Zell and Ma walked through the seasons until they were finally back to winter. Freya and Fratley were still standing at their yield sign with about half the sand still remaining in the timer. As they headed to spring, the remaining to racers dropped in quite literally and landed in the big fluffy mattress. Zell's eyes grew wide at the sight of yet another team behind them, and punched the ground in frustration. He and Ma continued through the winter to Freya and Fratley. While passing them, Zell said, "I didn't know they were behind us, too..." but continued walking by when Freya and Fratley refused to reply one way or another. He and Ma continued on to spring to receive their last clue.

"Yes, there's somebody else that's tired of the _vermin_ in this race," Dona noted of Freya and Fratley as they waited for their time to end. Dona grabbed her clue from the box and ripped it open. She and Barthello retreated to an area away from them to read it together. "Walk the seasons spring to winter. Spring again and we can enter? Barthello, figure this out. _Now_."  
"I... well... I'm not good with puzzles, Dona," Barthello muttered. "Seasons are... spring, summer-"  
"I _know,_ Barthello. Here, look." She pointed to the nearby woods, which were autumn colors. "That looks like fall. It says to walk from spring to winter, then spring a second time. Come on, let's find spring."  
Dona and Barthello headed into the autumn section of woods to find the spring section.

Zell and Ma ran to the Wind Shrine and hopped on the Pit Stop mat. Ma smiled at Gippal, but Zell instead wore a frown.  
"Ma and Zell," Gippal said, "you're team number seven!"  
"Thanks, Gippal," Zell said.  
"Why the long face?" he asked.  
"We messed up. We thought we got lost and everybody passed us, so we yielded the first team we saw: Freya and the Frat-Rat. But I like those guys, Gip! I didn't know that _nasty_ girl was behind us, too!"  
"It's okay, Zelly," Ma said, patting her son on the back. "They'll make it. We're just playing a game anyway."  
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Zell said. "But _man,_ if they manage to beat Dona and Barthello, I think we can figure any chance of an alliance with them is off..."

[Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in Last Place]  
The sand finally slipped through to the bottom of the timer and Freya and Fratley, ready as ever, grabbed their clue and read it through.  
"Spring must be that way," Fratley said quickly and pointed to the south. "Zell and Ma went that way and never turned back, so that's where they're supposed to end. Dona and Barthello are going backwards. We can still make it!"  
Freya and Fratley headed south and found where the trees were covered in pink. They started to look for the path that took them to summer, when in the distance they saw Dona and Barthello walk into spring _from_ summer. They all four made eye contact with one another, then Dona and Barthello quickly spun around and ran back to summer.  
"That way," Freya ordered Fratley as they started running for Dona and Barthello.  
Dona and Barthello were nearly at autumn when Freya and Fratley found them in summer, just across the pond. Freya ran around the pond to the left and Fratley went right. Without even asking, Dona leapt on Barthello's back and ordered him to run. He pounded through the autumn forest, sometimes getting confused by some strange owls fluttering around in the trees, but soon found winter again and headed through to the south. They finally found spring from the winter area and spotted the man with their clue. Barthello ran to him and took the clue from the man. Dona ripped it open and read it to Barthello, just as Freya and Fratley entered spring.  
"Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop at the Wind Palace warning the last team to check in may be eliminated- Barthello, go! There!" Dona pointed to the north as Freya and Fratley neared them. She and Barthello started running north as fast as they could, and even with Dona's running break, she still seemed out of breath.  
Freya grabbed her clue from the man's outstretched hand and ripped it open while she ran. "Make your way... on foot... to the Pit Stop... at the Wind Palace..." she read.  
"Warning," Fratley continued, reading over her shoulder. "The last team to check in... may be eliminated."

Gippal waited at the mat and watched as the Wind Palace doors swung open. Barthello blasted open the gates, then grabbed Dona's hand to help pull her along the final stretch. Barthello was practically dragging Dona when suddenly Fratley leapt over his and Dona's connecting arms and darted for the Pit Stop mat. He reached the mat and waved for Freya to join him. She entered the Wind Palace and looked as if she'd leap over them, as well, when a sudden look of pain stopped her from jumping, but still didn't slow her down. She smiled and instead got some speed behind her, then slid under their legs and tagged the Pit Stop mat like it was baseball. She looked to Fratley to see his face, but he did not have a happy look on his face. Instead, it looked more curious as he looked back and forth between feet and Gippal, because Dona and Barthello's feet were on the mat as well.  
"Whoa," Gippal said. "I umm... wow. Do I have to call this? I'm not an umpire!" He scratched his head and surveyed the situation. "Well, Fratley, you're definitely the first _person_ to arrive, but... wow."  
"We were first, now boot off these _rats_ ," Dona ordered Gippal.  
"Okay, hold on, hold on. Here's the deal. This _is_ an elimination leg, so one of you two _is_ eliminated. I'm going to check with our camera crew to watch the slow-mo, so you just wait here and don't kill each other."

Gippal returned a short time later to a bunch of pointless shouting. Freya and Fratley were not raising their voices, but everytime they spoke, Dona seemed to get louder. Barthello remained quiet the whole time. Gippal took his place at the top of the mat and lined up the teams with Freya and Fratley on the right and Dona and Barthello on the left.  
"Okay, here's the result," Gippal said. "Fratley, you were first. Barthello, you were second. So it all comes down to Freya and Dona. Just so you know, there were no penalties on this leg, so it really all comes down to whoever's foot landed first. And with that: Dona and Barthello, you're team number eight!"  
" _Finally,_ " Dona exclaimed. She walked away from the mat without another word.  
"Thank you," Barthello said to Gippal. He turned to Freya and Fratley and shook their hands as Gippal delivered the bad news.  
"Freya and Fratley," Gippal said, "that means you're the last team to arrive. And I'm sorry to say you have been eliminated from the race."  
"Thank you," Fratley said to Gippal. "And you, too," he said to Barthello. "You were a great rival. I wish you had a better partner."  
Barthello lowered his head, then walked to join Dona away from the mat.  
"So," Gippal said, "regret it all? You took a lot of physical, mental, _and_ emotional pain from a yield, all for nothing."  
"It was not nothing," Fratley said. "It was the first chance I had to be with Lady Freya again. I shall always cherish this time."  
"As will I," Freya added. "Thank you for a wonderful chance to reunite, Gippal. We would otherwise be spending time getting to know each other slowly, but this allowed us to jump-start our relationship and remember each other for who we are. It's almost as if we are starting right where we left off."  
"Now I only hope we can get home without one of us getting amnesia again," Fratley joked.


	13. Episode 5, Part 1

Gippal walked through a small town where a village sat in shambles. There was grass all around and a large temple made of marble behind him. He turned to face the camera. "This is the Wind Palace and retainer of the third seed of Mana. It is also the retainer of the fourth pit stop in a race around worlds. Teams departed the _Fantasy Tactics_ verse through a teleporter that took them to the _Seiken 2_ verse. Some teams struggled to make axes at the detour, while others simply got lost in a series of caves. A physically intense roadblock backed the racers up and allowed the strong teams to push ahead, while teams caught in the bunch-up struggled to stay in the game. Mother and son team Ma and Zell yielded their friends, reunited lovers Freya and Fratley, out of self-preservation, only to discover that hated team Dona and Barthello were behind as well, and the yield made Freya and Fraltey the fourth team eliminated and saved Dona and Barthello. Will Dona and Barthello continue to fight with the other racers? Will Ma and Zell's yield complicate their relationship with other teams? And will Fran and Balthier capitalize on their lead? Fran and Balthier, who were first to arrive at 11:34 am, will depart at 11:34 pm."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, 1st to Depart: 11:34 pm]  
Balthier stood with the clue and took a deep breath. "Ah, so refreshing to start in first place, isn't it?"  
"Fitting for the leading man to be in the lead," Fran replied. "It's time."  
"Indeed it is," Balthier said. He ripped open the clue and read it to Fran. "Make your way to Mantengo and pick up a Flammie drum and your next clue."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel through another section of the Upperlands forest and find the mushroom city of Mantengo. There they will meet with King Truffle, who will teach them to use a Flammie Drum."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place]  
"You will have... blimey, zero gil for this leg," Balthier said.  
"A pity," Fran said.  
They quickly jogged out of the Wind Palace and began to wander the Upperlands forest. They started in the pink trees of spring, then found an obvious Amazing FF Race arrow pointing them to the right where a new section of forest greeted them. This area was not themed like the four seasons. It was a typical forest with green trees and a mixture of dirt, rocks, and moss.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, 2nd to Depart: 11:37 pm]  
[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 3rd to Depart: 11:37 pm]  
Reina and Reno tore open their clues together as the four stood side-by-side on the pit start mat. Reina and Reno read the clues simultaneously, each trying to be louder than the other.  
"Teamwork again?" Reina asked the Turks.  
"Naw," Reno said. He nodded to Rude, then silently raced out of the Wind Palace. Reina and Faris quickly joined them.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, 4th to Depart: 11:52 pm]  
Watts ripped open his clue and read it to Zone. The pair quickly raced off the mat and headed south, out of the Wind Shrine. They followed the signs in the forest by the light of their flashlight headbands and entered the second part of the Upperlands forest.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place]  
Fran and Balthier entered a cave and followed a final sign pointing them to a nearby exit that led them into the foggy land of overgrown mushrooms that were about a meter tall. After a few patches of shrooms, they found a small inhabited area across a short bridge. It was like a castle with a solid wall surrounding it, but inside it seemed much more like a farm. There was a small hut out front and a larger, yet similar-looking building behind it. Across the entrance to the large part of the building was a chain with a sign reading "Hours of Operation: 7:00 am - 6:00 pm."  
Fran and Balthier crossed the bridge and approached the door to read more carefully.  
"I expected as much. It's been too long since we've seen some of our competition," Balthier said.  
"We should get some rest," Fran said. "And hope Dona does not attempt to bypass the line again."  
"I will be sleeping with one eye open for that very reason."

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, 5th to Depart: 12:06 am]  
[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, 6th to Depart: 12:06 am]  
Biran and Brahne opened the clues for their respective teams and read to them. Brahne read at a decent speed, but Biran's loud, slow, often-pausing reading, it became difficult to understand what either one said.  
"I'm giddy as a schoolgirl to be with our old friends," Brahne said. She reached out to pull the Ronso closer to her, but they both quickly walked away and pretended to be looking for something.

-{Biran & Yenke: Interview}-

"It Ronso secret," Biran noted. "When Ronso not want people to touch them, Ronso pretend to look for things. Yenke does it poorly, but _Biran_ is good."  
"Biran not as good as Biran think," Yenke added.

-{End Interview}-

"Oh look, rock!" Biran said of the only conceivable object anywhere near him: a rock. " _That_ where Biran put it." With that, Biran picked up the random rock on the ground and put it into his backpack.  
"Ohh, you found rock?" Yenke improvised. "Well then, Yenke not need look anymore."  
Garnet sighed, then led the three outside and to the south. She found the sign and led the oversized team through the trees and through the cave until they all arrived at Mantengo, where all the other teams waited in sleeping bags or under blankets.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 7th to Depart: 12:14 am]  
"This is for you, Frat-Rat," Zell said. He ripped open the clue and read it to Ma. "Make your way to Mantengo and pick up a Flammie drum and your next clue."  
"Mantengo? That sounds more like a dance," Ma said. "Let's go, Zelly!" Ma said with a smile.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Last to Depart: 12:21 am]  
"Open it, Barthello," Dona ordered. "It is _way_ too late to be starting a race."  
Barthello agreed and opened the clue. He read it to Dona, then they walked together toward Mantengo.

When Dona and Barthello finally found the city, all teams seemed to respond by sliding close together to form a very obvious line. They were already in a perfect line, but some still made small adjustments to make sure everything was perfect.  
"Oh puh-lease," Dona said. She took off her fanny pack and handed it to Barthello, who was already carrying two large backpacks. She beckoned for Barthello to join her near a wall far away from the other teams, as well as a long distance away from their next location.  
"There's no sense in being near them when we're in last," Dona told Barthello. "Just make us a bed."  
Barthello nodded and started pulling blankets out of the backpacks.

[7:00 am]  
The teams eagerly awaited the opening of the door. They waited in the order they arrived in, even Dona. Suddenly a small mushroom man with a face on his thick stem and a tan mushroom top with purple spots and emerged from the door and took down the sign. The teams seemed caught off-guard by a man that was a mushroom (or vice versa), but shrugged it off and ran inside quickly.  
Once inside, they saw another mushroom with a purple top and yellow spots, a brown beard, and a small red-and-yellow crown on top of his head. In front of him was a small table with what seemed to be musical instruments laid out on top. Each was labeled with a different team name. The instruments were small drums on sticks. Both sides of the drum were exposed and tied to the sides of the drum were two strings with wooden balls on the ends.  
"Welcome, all teams!" the crowned mushroom said. "I am King Truffle, and I'd like to explain to you all how to use Flammie-Taxi. We have several dragons in service that will fly you anywhere you direct them, but you must first hail them. To do so, simply go outdoors and take this 'Flammie Drum' and hold it by the stick. Then twist it back and forth so those two balls beat on the drums. The nearest Flammie-Taxi will hear it, then come pick you up. Now go ahead, everybody. Take your Flammie Drums and your next clue, which is underneath the drums."  
"Thank you so much," Ma said to King Truffle as she and Zell grabbed their drum and clue.  
Dona was the first to tear into her clue. "Make your way to the sparkling hut on Turtle Island."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to 'Turtle Island,' an island named for the resemblance to a turtle when viewed from above. The Flammie-Taxis are not driven by anybody, so teams will have to navigate their friendly, furry dragons on their own. Once they find the island, they must land and find the sparkling hut to receive their next clue."

"Here goes!" Reno shouted as several teams crammed their way back outside to try to hail a Flammie-Taxi. He twisted the drum once to make a _clunk_. "I... don't think that was right, y'know?"

"Ha!" Balthier shouted as he tried his own Flammie Drum. His made a _clunk,_ then he continued to twirl it, but the balls did not hit the drum again. Instead they just spun in circles with the drum.

Zone took the drum in both hands, then rubbed one hand forward at a time as if he were trying to start a fire with sticks. The drum circled back and forth, creating a _clack clack clack clack clack!_ _  
_"Like that?" Zone asked Watts, when they were suddenly grasped from the air and carried by a white dragon-like creature. It had four wings like a bird with white feathers and a hard underside like that of a turtle. Its ears were like a cat's and it had a tuft of almost human-like hair on its head. The creature held Zone and Watts in its claws gently and pulled them higher and higher into the air, where it seemed to be waiting on their command for where to go.  
"I have a new fear," Zone whispered to Watts.  
"I might, too," Watts said. "So umm, I hope you're a Flammie-Taxi."  
" _Pbreeee!_ " the creature responded.  
"Let's go that way," Watts said. He pointed to the east and the Flammie quickly fluttered in that direction.

Garnet lifted her drum in the air and twisted it back and forth. A Flammie-Taxi swooped down on them and lifted them into the air... then put them down. It tried a second time and this time grabbed Brahne with _both_ of its hands and Garnet with one of its feet.  
"Which way?" Garnet asked Brahne.  
" _That_ way, dragon!" Brahne pointed. The Flammie-Taxi flew in the direction Brahne had specified.

One by one, the teams were lifted away by their own Flammie-Taxis as they figured out the drums. Reina and Faris went next, then Zell and Ma, Fran and Balthier, Dona and Barthello, Reno and Rude, and finally Biran and Yenke.

"Feels good to be in the sky again," Balthier said to Fran as the wind rushed against their faces. "Too bad we're having no luck looking for this island."  
"It seems the island we're looking for is rather small," Fran replied.

"Garnet, honey? Does that look like a turtle?" Brahne shouted from the front half of the Flammie-Taxi. She looked over a hexagon-shaped island with six partially submerged islands nearby that from above looked like the head, tail, arms, and legs of a turtle.  
Garnet looked down, a bit surprised to see that the island really did resemble a turtle. "Yes, I think that's it, Mother!"  
"Take us down, dearie!" Brahne shouted to the Flammie-Taxi. It flew by the island and dropped them off. They found the sparking hut not far from where they were dropped off and quickly ran to it. The clue box sat just outside of it. Garnet reached inside and pulled out the clue.  
"There are two tickets inside," Garnet said, handing them to Brahne. "Make your way to the train station on the Lost Continent in the southeastern corner of the map."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to the underground train station on the Lost Continent. Once there, they will give their tickets to an attendant, who will show them to their train. The train will take them to their next destination."

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Tickets with no destination printed on them?" Brahne said, looking down at the tickets. "My oh my. How mysterious!"  
"We should get going," Garnet said. She lifted her Flammie-Drum and twisted it high in the sky. Their old Flammie-Taxi swooped in and picked them up, this time fully prepared for Brahne. Garnet instructed her Flammie-Taxi to the southeast.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"Ah ha!" Watts said, pointing to the turtle shaped island. "Land there, please."  
The Flammie-Taxi landed and dropped them off. They ran to their clue just as a second team swooped in behind them.  
"Oh, it's _you_ ," Dona said to Zone and Watts as they fished out their clue.  
"Uhhh, yup," Zone responded. He and Watts looked at each other and shrugged, then Watts read the clue to him as Dona and Barthello got a clue of their own. "Well... bye." Zone lifted the drum and hailed a taxi, which swooped down and picked them up. A second taxi was right behind theirs, picking up Dona and Barthello.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 4th Place]  
Ma and Zell landed on Turtle Island and grabbed their clue. Ma ripped it open and read it to Zell. "Make your way to the train station on the Lost Continent in the southeastern corner of the map."  
"There's a _map!?_ " Zell said.  
"Of course there is," Ma replied calmly. "I just haven't shown you because you have such a tendency to lose things."  
Zell opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came to him. He softly replied, "Thanks, Ma," and hailed a taxi.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 5th Place]  
"About time," Balthier said. He and Fran landed on Turtle Island, closely followed by Biran, Yenke, Reina, and Faris.  
"Arright, I admit it!" Faris shouted, completely unprompted. "We was followin' yeh! I be a sea pirate, not no mangy sky pirate, so we followed yeh all the way here!"  
"I see," Balthier replied. He looked to Biran and Yenke. "And what of you two?"  
"Biran found it all by Biran's self," Biran said. "But Yenke followed you."  
Fran opened the box and grabbed their clue, then nudged Balthier. "We're not the first ones here."  
"You're kidding... Okay, let's hurry along then."  
Fran read their clue as Biran and Faris grabbed the clues for their team. Then, in the order they arrived, they departed.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 1st Place]  
Brahne and Garnet landed on the Lost Continent and found the obvious newly-added staircase leading down to the underground train station. The station looked to be under construction, based on all the metal scaffolding along the tan walls. They approached the turnstiles, which also appeared to be under construction since there were only the pillars and nothing in between to block passengers or even count how many have gone by. Because of so many poor experiences with turnstiles before, Brahne was relieved.  
They reached the ticketbooth, where a boyish woman with spiky blonde hair greeted them with her two friends behind her: a boy and a girl. "Imperial spies!?" the woman shouted at them.  
"Goodness, no!" Brahne replied quickly.  
"Then, you're racers?"  
"We are," Garnet said.  
"Oh, okay, sorry," the woman said. "Force of habit. I'm Krissie. Can I have your tickets?"  
Garnet and Brahne handed their tickets to Krissie, who then led them to their train. It looked like a subway train, but from the light at the end of the tunnel, they assumed it eventually traveled above ground. They headed inside and sat in the nearest set of comfortable-looking blue seats.  
"Excuse me, dearie," Brahne said to Krissie. "Do you happen to know when we'll be leaving?"  
"In about twenty minutes," came the reply.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in Last Place]  
"Oh man," Reno said to Rude as he pulled the clue from the clue box on Turtle Island. "Only one clue left, y'know?"  
"Last place," Rude mumbled. He raised the drum above his head and twirled it to call their Flammie-Taxi.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 2nd Place]  
[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Zone and Watts landed on the Lost Continent, closely tailed by Dona and Barthello. They headed to the train station with Dona and Barthello no longer trying to hide that they were following.  
"I almost want to take one for the team and lead them in the complete wrong direction," Zone whispered to Watts.  
"I know the feeling," Watts replied.  
All four found the train station and were seated by Krissie and her friends. Dona and Barthello sat in the booth across the aisle from Garnet and Brahne, while Zone and Watts headed to another compartment altogether to strategize.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 4th Place]  
Ma and Zell landed at the Lost Continent and ran to the train station where they watched the train slowly depart from the station.  
"Dang, darn, dagnabit!" Zell yelled, kicking the wall.  
"Zelly! Language!" Ma shouted at him. She handed her and Zell's tickets to Krissie and asked, "How long until the next one?"  
"Not long," Krissie said. "It'll probably get here in about five minutes, depart in ten. We cycle a lot of trains to the place you're going."  
"Man, but I'll bet everybody will catch up by then," Zell said. "Do you know how many other teams already left?"  
"Three. So you're not doing too poorly, right?"  
"I guess not," Zell said.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 5th Place]  
[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 6th Place]  
[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 7th Place]  
The three bunched-up teams landed, though Faris lagged behind to talk to the Flammie-Taxi. She smiled at the large dragon, which took a seat in front of her.  
"Yer a good dragon," Faris said to it. "Ye remind me of ol' Syldra. Somethin' about dragons and we Tycoon girls, eh Reina?"  
"Yeah, they're cute," Reina said. "We should be going now."  
"Aye. Sorry, sister."  
"It's okay," Reina said. She looked at the Flammie-Taxi. "Bye, Flam!"  
Faris waved to the beast, then joined Reina in following the other two groups down to the underground train station. They boarded the train that had arrived. Ma and Zell sat closest to the door they entered through, while Biran and Yenke found seats more toward the middle of the train. Balthier and Fran moved closer to another door farther down. Reina and Faris made do with the second closest set of seats to the door they entered through.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in Last Place]  
Reno and Rude landed on the Lost Continent and headed straight for the train station. They headed down the long set of stairs and ran to the station, only to see the train slowly pulling away from the station.  
"This isn't good," Reno said. He watched the train, which had several other teams pressed against the glass to see if they'd make it.

"Amazing," Balthier said. "What I'd call our top competitors are in trouble."  
"It's best this way," Fran said.  
"Yes, I like it this way, too. We could knock them out now and be guaranteed a victory. Our other competitors aren't exactly competition. We need to make sure they lose."  
"It won't be easy, even with them so far behind."  
"Indeed it won't. Besides, they'll likely beat out whatever competition is still behind us. I assume the large blue woman is behind us. And as much as I admire her daughter's perseverance, it seems disgraceful that their team is still here."  
"Judging books by their covers, Ffamran?" Fran asked.  
"More judging past performance, I'd say."

[First Train Arriving]  
The three leader teams all waited by the train's doors as they slowly opened. Garnet was the first to squeeze out the door. Brahne blocked anybody else from getting through, so she was next. Zone and Watts, who had already exited the train from a further door, ran at the clue box that waited on the train platform for them. Garnet was first to grab a clue. She ripped it open and read it.  
"Make your way by skateboard to The Usual Spot. Caution: U-Turn ahead," Garnet read. "The Usual Spot? Where are we?"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"The teams have entered into Twilight Town in the _Kingdom Hearts Galaxy._ From the train station, they must use the skateboards provided at the exit of the train station to reach The Usual Spot: a popular hangout in the alley for the local children."

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 1st Place]  
"I can't wait to skateboard," Brahne said. She and Garnet walked around the clue box to leave, slightly blocking Zone and Watts, who were just about to grab a clue from that side. The delay allowed Dona and Barthello to be the first to take a clue.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"Make your way by skateboard to The Usual Spot," Barthello read.  
Dona sighed. "Sounds annoy-"  
"Fun!" Barthello interjected. "Sounds fun."  
"Don't start with me, Barthello," Dona said with a half smile.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Zone opened and read the clue to Watts.  
"Skateboarding?" Watts responded to the clue. "I do a little of that. And for once, you can't say 'no' to boarding with me!"  
"Don't remind me," Zone said.

Garnet and Brahne exited the glass doors of the train station and explored outside. They traveled down a few steps to get to the main landing. The floors of the whole town were covered in large, non-uniform-sized, auburn tiles. The train station was obviously a prominent feature in the town. It had high scale architecture with two columns out front and large planters on either side of the steps. Across from the station was a ledge overlooking some beautiful landscape.  
At the bottom of the steps were sixteen skateboards. Most of them were identical, but all had a racer's name written on it. A large, sturdy board awaited Brahne. Likewise with Barthello, Biran, and Yenke's boards.  
Garnet and Brahne found their boards and tried them out. Brahne immediately jumped on with both feet, but as the board started to move, she slipped off the back and fell on her butt. Garnet chased down her board and brought it back to her as the other two teams emerged from the train station.  
"Take it easy on me," Zone said to Watts as they stepped on their boards. Watts immediately took off skateboarding toward the town, while Zone moved with slow, cautious pushes.  
Garnet's style was similar to Zone's. Both were very slow, but stayed upright. Brahne's style was loud. Very loud. She screamed whenever her speed exceeded four miles an hour. Dona stood on the board and grabbed onto the back of Barthello's pants. Barthello was not the most stable skateboarder, so with Dona as added baggage, he was not doing exceedingly well.  
Watts led Zone through the city. It was a small city, but it had a lot of tall buildings crammed into a small area. The elevation changed often and made skateboarding more difficult. Zone was starting to pick up the pace, though he was still slow enough that Watts would occasionally circle him and do tricks out of boredom. He also stopped to ask many locals for directions to The Usual Spot along the way.  
After picking up their boards to run up a flight of stairs (which they were privately informed was allowed) and skateboarding another short distance, Zone and Watts found The Usual Spot. It was a small section between buildings where there were several crates and boxes, some of which were covered in old, discarded blankets. Directly in the middle was a clue box.  
Watts grabbed the clue and ripped it open. "Detour: Stand or Deliver."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons.  
"In Stand, teams must work as Grandstanders and entertain a crowd by keeping a ball in the air by hitting it with a couple of sticks. The number of hits they get in before the ball hits the ground determines how much munny they receive for their attempt. Once they have made 150 munny, they must take it back to a boy named Hayner, who will be waiting for them in the Sandlot. The task is difficult, but teams with enough patience and coordination could finish quickly.  
"In Deliver, teams must complete two delivery jobs in a limited amount of time. First, they must deliver five letters in under fifteen seconds. They will have the aid of a skateboard, should they require it, and the delivery locations are all in the same relatively-small area, but if they fail to do it under fifteen seconds, they will have to start over. After completing that, they must head to the Market Commons and put up 20 posters in under a minute. This area is _very_ large and the posters must be in specific locations. If they put the posters up in time, they will be given 150 munny to deliver to Hayner in the Sandlot. This task could be done very quickly, but teams that cannot beat the stressful times could find themselves stuck for a very long time."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Neither are our thing," Watts said. "I'm decent on a skateboard though, so I say Deliver."  
"Sounds better than being the main attraction for a large crowd," Zone replied.  
They headed out of The Usual Spot and followed a sign labeled "Deliver." On the way, they passed Dona and Barthello, who were starting to get the hang of skateboarding. Well, Barthello was. Dona was still holding onto the back of his pants.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Dona and Barthello entered The Usual Spot and found the clue box. Dona ripped the clue open and read the clue. "Detour: Stand or Deliver." Dona paused a moment to think, while Barthello waited in silence. "We'll do Stand. You can keep a stupid _ball_ in the air, right, Barthello?"  
"Yes," Barthello replied.  
"Good, then we're decided."

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Brahne and Garnet finally skateboarded into The Usual Spot with Brahne screaming almost the whole time on the skateboard. Garnet grabbed a clue from the clue box and read it to Brahne. "Detour: Stand or Deliver."  
"Dearie, I don't have the greatest coordination," Brahne said. "Both will be up to you, honey. Why don't you decide?"  
"You are... letting me decide?" Garnet asked. "Thank you, Mother. I believe Deliver would be best."  
"Me too, dearie," Brahne replied. With that, the pair headed in the direction indicated by the "Deliver" sign.

Zone and Watts reached the mail delivery portion of their task. There was a table with several sealed envelopes placed at the top of a long incline. Buildings were on either side of the incline, and toward the end was a low rail on the right side with one final building a bit beyond the rail. Scattered throughout the path were three people and two birds, all of which were waiting to receive a letter. The birds fluttered in place and were marked with a red-and-yellow tag tied to one of their feet to remind racers that they need to be given a clue. Likewise with the people, only they were marked more obviously by a shirt reading "Give Me My Mail!"  
"Whew, looks tough," Watts said. He waited for a response, but when he didn't get one, he looked to Zone, who was in his usual position. Watts rolled his eyes and kicked Zone in the leg.  
"Ow!" Zone said.  
"Come on, just follow behind me, okay? Get anybody I miss. That'll be your job."  
"Roger."  
Zone and Watts grabbed five envelopes each, then waited at the starting line. A man counted them off: "Three, two, one, go!"  
Watts pushed off with his skateboard and started down the path quickly. Zone was behind him going a similar, but slightly slower, pace. They started coming up on a man waiting for mail and Watts took an envelope and tossed it to him. They continued without stopping and whizzed by a bird without even noticing. They came upon the final section of the trail and Watts flipped another piece of mail to a man nearby, then went down the last stretch of incline and looked at a bird above him waiting for a letter. It was really high, but when Watts threw the envelope to the bird, it swooped down and caught it, despite being nowhere near the bird.  
"Time!" someone shouted, stopping Watts and Zone. "You only delivered three letters. Please try again."  
"Geez," Watts said to Zone. "We might've picked the wrong detour..."

Dona and Barthello reached the large section of crowd and saw the brown orb in the center of them all. There were a couple sticks nearby that were about three feet long and about an inch in diameter. They weren't much different from cardboard tubes from wrapping paper except that they were filled with more cardboard to make them more sturdy.  
"This doesn't look hard," Dona said. She and Barthello each picked up a stick and circled the ball. Suddenly, a machine below the ball blew it up into the air, thus starting the event. "Get it, Barthello!"  
Barthello swung at the ball and knocked it higher into the air. It also went a bit crooked and started hooking left. It floated like a balloon, but it seemed to have something strange inside of it, since the ball moved in a difficult pattern. It began coming down again a lot farther away than they had anticipated. Barthello ran for the ball and dove for it, hitting it into the air again. This time, his hit did not have much force and the ball landed on the ground soon after. Instead of clapping for them, the audience was laughing at them. A man from the crowd approached them and gave them 10 munny.  
"So we just need to suck like this fifteen times," Dona said. "Wonderful."  
The staff began replacing the ball on the machine, then waited as the air compressor in the corner started up and slowly began preparing their next attempt.


	14. Episode 5, Part 2

[Second Train Arriving]  
The four teams on the second train jumped out of the doors and sprinted to the clue box nearby.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 4th Place]  
"Make your way by _skateboard_ to The Usual Spot. Caution: U-Turn ahead!" Zell read energetically to his mother. "Skateboards, Ma!"  
"U-Turn, Zelly!" Ma said with a smile. "Let's not be last!"  
"Heck no."

All teams read their clues and joined Zell and Ma in heading outside of the train station. They all found their skateboards and headed out to find The Usual Spot. Zell was first out the gates and was doing tricks almost immediately on his board. Ma was second. She didn't do tricks, but she had great form.  
"Ma, you can skateboard?" Zell asked.  
"Duh, Zelly," Ma said. "I used a lot of your toys while you were off being a SeeD!"  
"Total awesome!"  
The next to leave were Reina and Faris. Both were not great at skateboarding, but understood the general concept as they rode toward the city. Then came Biran and Yenke, who acted like dogs riding the skateboards. They put their left hand and knee on the board, then pushed off with their right hand and foot. They build up a lot of speed this way, but struggled when they needed to do any turns.  
Balthier and Fran were about to leave first, but Balthier held Fran back and pointed to the only pair of skateboards left besides their own.  
"Know what this means?" Balthier said, pointing to Reno and Rude's skateboards.  
"We're in second to last," Fran noted.  
"No. Well, yes. But it means they can be eliminated this round."  
"We should hurry to use our U-Turn," Fran said.  
"Exactly." Balthier and Fran pushed off and began skateboarding decently well.

"Three, two, one, go!" the man shouted to Zone and Watts, who started skateboarding their way down the incline of Market Street. Watts again took the lead and tossed a letter to the first person. He missed the bird again, but Zone noticed it and stopped to hand it a letter. They continued down the slope and Watts handed a letter to the next person and finally continued on to the final bird. Zone caught up to him and the two looked around frantically for the last delivery. It was a woman just beyond the railing of the bottom of the incline. Both Zone and Watts pushed their skateboards toward her, but then a man cried out, "Time!" and stopped Zone and Watts in their tracks. "You got four out of five letters delivered!"  
"I'll get her next time," Zone told Watts. "I found the bird you missed. I'll get that, too. You keep doing what you're doing."  
"Okay, thanks," Watts said. He high-fived Zone, then the two began walking back to the starting line, where, currently, Garnet and Brahne waited on their boards.  
"Three, two, one, go!" the man shouted to Garnet and Brahne. They started down the hill and Brahne started screaming like always. Garnet saw the first person and stopped to hand her a letter, while Brahne sped on, picking up speed as she continued down the incline. Garnet continued on, stopping to give her next clue to the first bird. By this time, Brahne had reached the bottom of the incline, only to hit a bump and fly into the air. The letters she was holding flew everywhere and Brahne barely caught herself. Meanwhile, her letters had flown high and far enough that the bird assumed they were thrown to it and snatched one of them up.  
"Hey, stupid bird!" Brahne shouted, shaking her fist. "That letter is for somebody else!"  
"No no, it's fine, Mother!" Garnet yelled as she slid in to help her mother stand up. "He's one of the five we give it to."  
"Time!" the man shouted. "You got four out of five!"  
"Mother, can you do this again? Get it to this bird? I will take care of the other three, then we'll look for the last person together."  
"Of course I can do it again, dearie," Brahne responded. "After all, I meant to do it this time. I can do it every time."  
"Thank you, Mother."

"Hit it again, Barthello!" Dona ordered as Barthello chased down the floating ball.  
Barthello ran for the ball, which was getting close to the crowd, then made a careful hit to avoid hitting the crowd, but still keeping the ball afloat. It didn't go very high, though, as it floated toward Dona. She took her stick with two hands and hit it hard, but she hit it sideways instead of up, so it landed on the ground shortly after.  
"Five hits," a man in the crowd said. He came forward and gave them 30 munny.

Zone and Watts started down the hill again. Watts tossed the first man his envelope and Zone gave the first bird its envelope. Then, Watts tossed the second man his letter and continued on to the final bird. In the meantime, Zone had reached the end with the railing and sacrificed his skateboard, letting it continue down the incline as he hopped over the rail to get to the last person. He grabbed the railing before falling and starting chanting "Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea," to himself. He finally let go and landed safely on the ground, then ran to the woman and gave her the letter.  
"Good job, Zone!" Watts said to him. "That took guts. I'm... surprised you did it."  
"Same here," Zone said.  
"But sorry, I couldn't get it to that last bird in time. You'll have to do that again."  
" _What!?_ "  
"Time!" the man said. "You got all five out of five. Continue on to Poster Duty!"  
"Just kidding," Watts said. He elbowed Zone in the ribs.  
"Jerk," Zone muttered.  
They walked to the next area and saw a huge market. A trolley circled the large, almost-empty market at a very slow rate. All around the market were squares on the walls marked with a strange symbol, where teams were allowed to place a poster. Zone and Watts were each handed a basket of posters.  
"Twenty posters in under a minute, but only where you see the symbols," the man told them. "Ready... Three, two, one, go!"  
"You go that way, I'll go this way," Watts shouted quickly. He and Zone were definitely taken off-guard by the sudden start of the next task.  
"Put the posters on your skateboard and push it," Zone suggested.  
"You do that, I'll do something else." Watts started skateboarding to the left, while Zone took the right. Zone's basket sat on his skateboard as he pushed it along the outer perimeter of the market. He found a section where three posters were allowed and quickly started slapping them up on the walls. Each of the symbols was apparently made out of a sticky substance, so sticking the poster against it instantly held the poster up.

Dona ran for the ball once again and poked it with her stick before it hit the ground. Their tactic seemed to generally be "Barthello hits it a lot, Dona gets a final hit in before it lands." It seemed to work for them.  
"Five hits again," the man said. He handed them another 30 munny.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 4th Place]  
Ma and Zell finally reached The Usual Spot and grabbed their clue from the clue box. Zell ripped it open and read it to Ma. "Detour: Stand or Deliver."  
"Both sound fun, but we're skaters," Ma said with a smile. "Let's do Deliver."  
"You're the coolest, Ma," Zell said. They made their way out of The Usual Spot and headed for the 'Deliver' detour.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 5th Place]  
Biran and Yenke continued to skateboard like dogs, but wound up getting to the clue box just after Zell and Ma because of their powerful Ronso arms and legs. Biran stood up and grabbed the clue. "Detour: Stand or Deliver."  
"Yenke like to hit things!" Yenke said.  
" _Biran_ like to hit things!" Biran said.  
"Ronso smash!" the Ronso said together with a high-five. They headed out of The Usual Spot in search of the 'Stand' detour.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 6th Place]  
Fran and Balthier barely passed Reina and Faris and reached The Usual Spot first. Fran grabbed a clue from the clue box. "Detour: Stand or Deliver."  
"I think we're good enough on skateboards," Balthier said. "Besides, Stand sounds dreadfully boring."  
"Agreed."  
They left The Usual Spot just as Reina and Faris were entering, then headed for the 'Deliver' detour.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 7th Place]  
Reina grabbed a clue from the box. "Detour: Stand or Deliver?"  
"We be no good on these wheelin' boards," Faris said. "Methinks 'Stand' be better."  
"Okay!"

Watts found a section of wall needing three posters and slapped one up, then, suddenly, the man's voice stopped him from putting up another poster.  
"That's it!" the man said. Watts and Zone headed back to the start, where the man handed them 150 munny.  
"Oh, we did it?" Watts said. "I thought we ran out of time."  
"Me too!" Zone added. He took the 150 munny and they hopped on their skateboards and headed for the Sandlot. It was only a short distance away, so they reached it relatively quickly. The Sandlot was a fairly open section of the town with a large stage in the middle. A man in a black trenchcoat stood in the middle holding a stick with a blue foam pad on it. At the stairs leading up to the stage was a young boy wearing camouflage pants, a black sleeveless shirt, and a grey vest. His hair was short, spikey, and blonde.  
"I'm betting on him," Watts said. "Or at least somebody near the stage, which very well might be our roadblock.  
Zone and Watts approached the stage and the boy sitting on the steps.  
"Excuse us," Watts said. "We're looking for Hayner."  
"Found him," the boy responded.  
"Great! We have some munny for you," Zone said. He handed Hayner the munny.  
"Awesome, thanks. I have a clue for you," Hayner said. "But you don't get it until you check in here." Hayner gestured to a signboard next to him, which was labeled "U-Turn." It was like the Yield board, only said U-Turn on it.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"This is the third of six delay points on the race. A U-Turn appears at the end of the detour. Teams can use the power of a U-Turn to slow down another team, forcing them to backtrack and perform the other side of the detour. Teams may only use their delay point once, so they must decide when it is most advantageous to use it."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Zone and Watts stood on the U-Turn mat and faced the camera. "We choose not to U-Turn."  
"A couple of nice guys, eh?" Hayner said as Zone and Watts returned to him. He handed them their next clue, which Zone quickly tore open.  
"Roadblock: Who's struggling to win?"  
"This has you written all over it," Watts said.  
"You crazy? With my stomach all like this?" He started hunching over.  
"That's exactly it," Watts said. "You're struggling to do much of anything. This one is all yours."  
Zone hesitated and finally said, "Fine. I'll do it."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this roadblock, that team member must participate in a local event known as 'The Struggle.' In this competition, players wield foam bats and attack each other and try to knock a bunch of balls off each other. The balls have been stuck on by velcro and after one minute of play, whoever has collected the most balls wins. In this roadblock, the chosen team member will go against the local champion: Setzer, who originally hails from the _Fantasy 6_ verse and has helped out on our show before. Instead of normal competition, the team member will only have to collect twenty of the one-hundred balls on Setzer at the end of one minute. Setzer will not be defenseless, however. He will knock them back, dodge their attacks, and even try to get the balls that have fallen back. The round is not over until the one minute is up, so even should teams grab twenty balls, they must keep them for the entire minute in order to win."

"You're kidding," Zone said as he was handed a foam bat, given a velcro vest, and pushed onto the stage. He saw Setzer across the way, covered in red balls. He slowly put on his velcro vest and held his foam bat. He started crouching down and holding his stomach as Setzer stood over him.  
"You can do it!" Watts shouted from a crowd of people.  
Zone got to his feet as the fight was counted off by the crowd. "Three, two, one, _Struggle_!"  
Setzer stood in place while Zone approached him slowly. He tried his best to hold back stomach cramps while pursuing his opponent. As he finally got the courage to approach him, he was met with a _thwack_ of blue padding across the side of his face. The crowd all gave a collaborative "oooooh" in response. Zone shook it off and looked his opponent over. It wasn't too painful. For Zone, the real pain was the fear of wondering how much it would hurt to be hit with one of the padded sticks. With the fear gone, Zone rose to his feet, standing tall, proud, and ready. He rushed Setzer, this time ducking his first attack and swatting away at Setzer's midsection with a two-hit combo. Several red balls flew out, which Zone began collecting. He grabbed ten balls and stuck them to himself: six on his stomach, two on his back, and one under each arm.  
He started his next attack. He rushed Setzer and again ducked his first shot, but was unaware of a follow-up shot that Setzer took, hitting Zone in the shoulder and knocking him off his feet. Several of the balls rolled away from the collision with the ground, but since Zone had immediately hit his familiar fetal position, the six on his stomach remained.  
Zone continued the fight, but he made little progress. After one minute, he was left holding only eight red balls.  
"It's cool, Zone," Watts said on the sidelines. "You'll wear him down. Once they get set up again, just go all out!"  
"I know what to do," Zone said sternly. "Don't worry."

Ma and Zell reached the top of the incline for the 'Deliver' detour and waited for the cue that Garnet and Brahne, who had failed once again, were clear of the area. They grabbed their letters and positioned themselves as the man counted them down. "Three, two, one, go!" he shouted, and Ma and Zell flew down the incline. Zell was faster than ever, but horribly inaccurate as he tossed the letters to the people and birds. The birds made up for the inaccuracy and still grabbed the letters, but the people did not, so Ma was left delivering to those Zell failed to reach. Once Zell reached the railing, he immediately hopped his board onto it and started grinding down it. At the end, he jumped up and tossed a letter to a high-flying bird, then landed back on his bird and circled over to the last person. He had enough time to stop and personally hand her the letter.  
"Time!" the man shouted. "You've delivered all five!"  
"Good job, Zelly!" Ma shouted as she finally was making her way down the last bit of slope. "You missed two back there, but ol' Ma Dincht's got your back!"  
"Heck yeah, Ma! You're the best!"  
Zell and Ma raced off to Market Street to begin putting up the twenty posters while Garnet and Brahne retried the Mail Delivery.

"That was _seven_!" the man said as he handed Dona and Barthello another 30 munny.  
"Oh please, this is _it!?_ " Dona said. "We did _more_ than last time, we should get _more_ munny."  
"Sorry, that's the going rate," the main said.  
"How much do we have, Barthello?" Dona asked.  
"We have 130 munny," he replied. "Only 20 more."  
"I am so sick of doing this."

"It Ronso time!" Biran and Yenke shouted as they entered the Grandstander area. A second crowd gathered around another ball with its own air pump, so they did not need to wait for Dona and Barthello. They jumped right in and grabbed their sticks.  
"This weapon not fit for Ronso!" Biran shouted at the stick.  
"Not at all," Yenke chimed in.  
The ball lifted into the air and Biran immediately hit the ball at Yenke. Yenke responded by hitting it right back at Biran. Things continued to go back and forth for quite a while until it finally came at Yenke, who swung and accidentally spiked it straight into the ground.  
"Thanks lot!" Biran shouted at him.  
"You two hit it twenty-three times!" the man told them. He handed them 50 munny.  
"Ronso rich!" Yenke said, pocketing the money.  
The Ronso waited (impatiently) for the air pump to prepare the next ball.

Balthier and Fran made their way to the top of the Mail Delivery hill and waited for their countdown. "Three, two, one, go!" They began skateboarding down the hill. Fran was on the left and handed the letter to the person on the left. Balthier rode on the right and had to slow down a bit to give the letter to the bird, since he failed to immediately see the small tag dangling from the bird's leg. Further down the path, Balthier handed a letter to the man on his right before going the rest of the way down the slope with Fran and circling the rail to give the letter to the last girl.  
"That's only four," Balthier said. He and Fran looked around for the last person and finally found a bird floating in the sky just as they heard the word "Time!"  
"Bah," Balthier muttered. "Next time."

Reina and Faris reached the Grandstander area and gathered up a third crowd around a third air pump. They picked up their sticks and prepared themselves. The ball lifted off and Reina hit a poorly-aimed ball toward Faris, who had to dive for the first shot. She missed completely and the ball landed.  
"Uh oh," Reina said. "Maybe we should switch detours?"  
"Nice try," a man said as he gave the girls 10 munny.  
"I think we be okay," Faris said. "We c'n only mess this up fifteen times b'fore they just give us the clue."  
"Okay," Reina said. "I'll get better, too!"

[Third Train Arriving]  
Reno and Rude jumped off the train and grabbed the clue in the station. "Make your way by skateboard to The Usual Spot. Caution: U-Turn ahead," Rude read.  
"Uh oh. Prepare for a U-Turn, dude," Reno said.  
"Yes," Rude replied as they ran outside to get the skateboards. Both immediately took off skateboarding for The Usual Spot.

Zone squared off with Setzer again. He quickly rushed in and dodged an attack, then let loose on Setzer, attacking several times. Instead of aiming for Setzer, he aimed for the balls velcroed to his coat, which flew off in several directions. Upon seeing his plan of attack, Setzer swiped at him with his padded bat and knocked Zone away. Zone, however, had landed in a pile of red balls and began grabbing them as fast as he could. Setzer ran toward him to pick up the red balls that were closest to him and reattached them to his coat. Zone began counting out loud as he grabbed the balls. "Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. Three more."  
Setzer tried to attack Zone as he lay on the ground, but Zone blocked it and countered with an attack on Setzer's leg, throwing him off balance. Zone got to his feet and raced toward another set of balls, then pounced on them, making sure to snag at least three. He gathered them all up on his stomach and chest, then retreated into a corner with Setzer in pursuit. Just as Setzer was bearing down on him, he slid to his feet and assumed his fetal position around the balls he'd collected. Setzer hit him a couple times, once even sending him sliding across the stage, but he remained still. Finally, the buzzer ended the fight and the announcer entered the arena. He began counting the balls Zone had collected and threw them back to Setzer in the process. "Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one- y'know what? He got more than twenty! Here's your clue, buddy. Good job."  
"Thanks," Zone said. He held his arm in the air victoriously as Watts joined him on the stage. Just then, Zone looked out onto the cheering crowd and suddenly realized how many people were watching him. "...uh oh."  
"Oh forget about them," Watts said. "You kicked some _ass_. Good job!"  
"Th-th-thanks," Zone said. "Can we read this off the stage?"  
"Yes. Yes we can." Watts led Zone off the stage and ripped open the clue. "Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop at the mansion outside of town. Warning: the last team to check in may be eliminated."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now find the mansion outside of town through a large crack in the wall in Station Heights, the area with the posters. The last team to check in here, may be eliminated."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Let's go," Watts said. "I think we might've blown our cover to float under the radar."  
"Stop making me nervous!" Zone yelled at him. "And you should ask for directions. I feel kinda woozy after getting hit so many times with that bat."  
"Good idea," Watts said.

Brahne sped down the hill and tossed a handful of letters into the air for the bird. She got back on her feet and watched Garnet make her way down after giving the three people on the original path their letters. "She won't make it!" Brahne shouted nervously as she hopped on her board and gave one big push in the direction of the last woman. Just as Brahne began barreling toward the final woman, Garnet rounded the corner with her letter for the last woman in hand and gave it to the woman.  
"Thank y- Look out!" the woman shouted to Garnet, who turned just in time to see Brahne only inches away from collision. Brahne slammed into Garnet, who then bashed into the woman and knocked her down with Brahne falling off her skateboard and landing next to them. As the three women lay on the floor, the announcer yelled, "Time! You delivered all five! Continue on to Poster Duty!"  
"Thank you... for trying to help... Mother," Garnet said as she slowly rose to her feet. She helped the woman up, then attempted to help Brahne to her feet, but Brahne needed much more help than that.  
"Perhaps I'll just lay here a bit, dearie," Brahne said.  
"Okay. But hurry, please," Garnet added.

Barthello hit the ball high into the air before Dona finally pushed him aside and kicked the ball into a wall.  
"That's enough of this," Dona said.  
"Six hits!" the man said as he handed Dona 30 munny.  
"We're done. Stop fooling around, Barthello."  
"Sorry, Dona," Barthello said. "I just... I lost count."  
"Of course you did."  
Dona led Barthello toward the Sandlot. Barthello muttered under his breath before following, "It's hard to keep track when you're doing all the work."  
"I'm going to _pretend_ I didn't hear that," Dona barked without looking back at her partner.  
They reached the Sandlot and handed the 150 to Hayner, who pointed them to the U-Turn beside them.  
"Excellent," Dona said, walking up to the U-Turn. She paused a moment to think, then started digging through the cards to find somebody to U-Turn.  
"We choose not to U-Turn," Barthello said suddenly to the camera.  
"Ex _cuse_ me?" Dona said, stuffing the pictures back in the box angrily.  
"There is no advantage, Dona," Barthello explained. "We should save it until it becomes more useful. Right now, if we U-Turn somebody who is almost done, they could catch up and nothing will have happened."  
Dona paused for a moment, then finally nodded. "Fine, Barthello. You know, you're actually kind of cute when you get defensive and bossy."  
Barthello gulped. "R-really?"  
"No, Barthello. Just open the clue," Dona said with a smile. She pointed at the clue Hayner offered them.  
Barthello grabbed the clue and opened it. "Roadblock: Who's struggling to win?"  
"You'd knock this one out of the park," Dona said. "Do it."  
"You should," Barthello replied. "We know we are ahead. I think if you did it-"  
"Fine, fine!" Dona shouted, cutting Barthello off. "If it'll make you stop _explaining_ basic strategy to me, then I'll do it."  
"Thank you, Dona," Barthello said.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in Last Place]  
Reno and Rude reached The Usual Spot and grabbed their clue. "Detour: Stand or Deliver," Rude read.  
"We're gonna do both, I can feel it," Reno said. "Let's do 'Stand' first."  
Rude nodded and they quickly ran to find the 'Stand' detour.

Zell jumped at a wall and, with a poster in each hand, slapped two posters up at the same time.  
"That's it!" the man shouted to Zell and Ma, who chose to do this task side by side with Zell getting the hard to reach posters up and Ma doing the easy ones that he missed. He handed Ma the 150 munny.  
"Thanks, buddy!" Zell said. He offered a handshake, but the man turned away when he saw Garnet and Brahne entering the area for Poster Duty.  
Zell and Ma headed for the Sandlot as Garnet and Brahne took their places in Station Heights. Both put their baskets on their skateboards immediately.

Zone and Watts found the crack in the wall and ran through a small forest area before coming to the large mansion gates, where Gippal stood next to a young, blonde girl in a white dress. Zone and Watts trotted up to the mat and jumped on.  
"Welcome to Twilight Town," the girl, Namine, said.  
"Thank you," they both said.  
"Zone and Watts," Gippal said, "you're team number one!"  
"All thanks to this man," Watts said, patting Zone on the back. He quickly batted his arm away.  
"As the winners of this leg, you've both won a sack of marbles," Gippal explained, handing them a small, colorful sack with colored, transparent marbles. "We're also giving you an entire 'Struggle' trophy, but right now we only have the marbles. Some punk kids went and broke all these little balls or marbles or whatever off of the trophy, so it's all we have left. Sorry."  
"It's cool," Zone said. "I might've done the same anyway. I'm a pro marbles player."  
"So what of your 'middle of the pack' strategy?" Gippal asked.  
"Right out the window, Gippal," Watts said. "We have a huge target on our backs now."  
"Well, good luck to both of you."  
"Thank you, Gippal," they both said.


	15. Episode 5, Part 3

Fran and Balthier attempted the Mail Delivery once again, this time making it look like child's play. Balthier gave the letters to all the humans while Fran handled the birds. They received confirmation to move on and quickly headed to Poster Duty to join up with Brahne and Garnet.

"Biran smash!" Biran shouted as he bashed the ball at Yenke.  
"Yenke smash!" Yenke shouted as he bashed the ball at Biran.  
"Oh my God," a man in the crowd said. "Do they _really_ have to say that _every_ time?"  
"Biran smash!"  
"Yenke smash!"  
" _Please_ drop it soon!" people in the crowd began shouting.  
"Biran smash!"  
"Yenke smash!" Yenke missed his smash and the ball flew over his shoulder and hit the ground.  
"Thank goodness," the man said. He handed the Ronso their third set of 50 munny. "Forty-nine in a row. And we're so glad it's over."  
"Biran _never_ dropped ball," Biran said. "Only _Yenke_ dropped ball! Yenke is horrible Hulk-Ronso."  
The Ronso ran the direction Dona and Barthello had run, hoping it was the way to the Sandlot.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Zell and Ma reached the Sandlot and saw Dona getting smacked around the stage. Zell laughed, but Ma elbowed him and told him to never laugh at a woman getting hurt. They found Hayner and handed him the 150 munny. He pointed them to the U-Turn mat beside them.  
"We umm, _can't_ U-Turn," Zell said to the camera. "Poor Frat-Rat."  
Hayner handed them their clue, which Ma opened up. "Who's struggling to win?"  
"What do you think, Ma?" Zell asked. He and Ma watched Dona getting thrown around the ring. "I could do it, but I've done more roadblocks than you."  
They watched Dona struggle to Struggle a bit longer, noticing that she would definitely not win with this attempt. "I want to do it," Ma finally said. "I can at _least_ do it faster than Dona... I hope."  
"Kick _ass,_ Ma! Ma versus Dona!"  
"Language, Zelly!" Ma said. "But yes, I'll kick her umm, booty."

"Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two!" Faris and Reina chanted as they batted the ball back and forth.  
"Wait, we hit twenty!" Faris said. "Drop it, we has enough booty!"  
Reina purposely missed her hit and the ball hit the ground.  
"Congrats," a man said. He handed them the last 50 munny they needed and they raced off to find the Sandlot.

With Dona's loss in the Struggle, it was Ma's turn. She wore her velcro vest and entered the ring with Setzer. She armed herself with the foam bat and squared off in the center as the crowd counted them down. "Three, two, one, _Struggle_!"  
Ma raced at Setzer with a fiery intensity in her eyes. She pulled back her bat and lashed out at Setzer, only to miss entirely.  
"Oh, Ma," Zell said, shaking his head.  
Setzer smiled at her as she tried her next attack, which failed just as much. Setzer barely even moved to evade her attacks. She finally landed a hit on his coat, knocking a couple balls loose, which she quickly picked up. Right after she'd grabbed them, he knocked them right back out of her grasp. It was only just before the man called "Time!" that Ma landed a decent blow on Setzer.  
Ma retreated to her corner with Zell, who gave her a water bottle while she waited. "Do you _need_ me to tell you what you did wrong?" Zell asked her.  
"I think I know, but tell me," Ma said.  
"Your eyes," Zell said. "Keep them-"  
"Open, yes. Thank you, Zelly. You're so sweet to your mother, even if she's ruining your chances at one million gil."  
"Don't worry, we're still ahead," Zell said.

"Posters look good," the man told Garnet and Brahne. Garnet smiled and accepted the 150 munny while Brahne huffed and wheezed from running around with posters. Garnet motioned for Brahne to follow her as she trotted on ahead, but Brahne only waved for her to keep going as she doubled over for air.  
"I can't _leave_ you," Garnet said to Brahne. "We can wait though."

"Go, Dona, go! Go, Dona, go!" the crowd chanted after Barthello riled them up.  
"The audience has turned on me," Setzer said with a smirk.  
Dona charged at him, then hit him across the chest. A few red balls flew out, then a padded bat collided with Dona and sent her flying across the stage.

"Biran want to fight!" Biran yelled as they entered the Sandlot, having gotten slightly lost. They gave the money to Hayner, then stood on the U-Turn mat.  
"Cannot U-Turn," Yenke said. "Already used it on Hair-Horn!"  
They returned to Hayner and opened their clue. "Roadblock," Biran read. "Who not Yenke?"  
"That Biran!" Yenke answered. "Waaaait. Clue not say that!"  
"Clue say: 'Who struggle to win?' It the same thing as 'Who not Yenke?' because Biran will do it."

Dona once again headed off the stage in defeat as Ma took the stage. She readied her bat as the crowd counted her down. "Three, two, one, _Struggle_!" She ran at Setzer and as he struck out at her, she hit his wrist and knocked the bat from his hands. He tried to reach for it when she clubbed him again in the stomach, then the butt as he was bent over. Red balls fell all over the stage and Ma quickly raced for them. She counted as she attached them to her vest and when she reached thirty, she looked up to see Setzer standing over her with his bat. He struck her in the back, knocking several of the balls off her vest and out of her hands. She scurried to pick them up as the timer sounded.  
"Final count," the ringmaster said counting the final balls. "The final count is only eighteen."  
"No!" Zell shouted. "Aww, come on!"  
Ma took her place on the sidelines as Biran took the stage, now wearing the velcro vest and holding a foam-less bat. A stagehand ran on the stage to help Biran reassemble his bat and inform him that the foam is for safety, not a flaw in the weapon.

"Good?" Balthier said to the man administrating poster duty.  
The man's eyes followed Fran's legs as she slowly crawled down from a high location, where she had just placed a poster. "Very good. Here's your munny." He handed Balthier the 150 munny.  
"Careful not to stare. She _does_ bite."  
Fran smirked, then joined Balthier in running for the Sandlot.

Reina and Faris reached the Sandlot in time to see Biran run up to Setzer, clobber him, and collect several red balls as Setzer regained his senses. Reina handed Hayner the munny. Hayner pointed them to the U-Turn.  
"Should we?" Reina asked.  
"Nay, it be too early," Faris said. She took the clue from Hayner and read it. "Who be strugglin' ter win?"  
"Probably me?" Reina said. "But that looks brutal out there!"  
"Aye, but look at yer competition." Faris pointed to the bench, where Dona and Ma waited for their next attempts. "Also," Faris said, turning Reina to see the next two people approaching: Garnet and Brahne. "Yeh c'n do it."  
"I _can_ do it!" Reina said, jumping into the preparation area to get her velcro vest on.

Garnet and Brahne finally reached Hayner and handed him the munny, then looked at the U-Turn.  
"We choose not-" Garnet started, but Brahne stopped her.  
"We have a _glorious_ opportunity, dearie," Brahne said. "I see several teams ahead of us, but I don't believe the Pretty Boy has passed us, nor those two men in suits."  
"Those are the two top teams," Garnet said. "We really could take one out."  
"Wait!" Balthier shouted as he and Fran entered the Sandlot. "We'll make you a deal, should you not U-Turn us."  
"We're listening!" Brahne shouted.  
"If you choose not to U-Turn us, we shall use _our_ U-Turn on Reno and Rude," Balthier explained. "A 'top team,' as you say, is struggling, yet you will retain your delay point, having not used it here."  
"It's a good deal," Brahne said.  
"Even for the APBA," Garnet said.  
"The what?" Fran asked.  
"Anti-Pretty Boy Alliance," Brahne informed her. She turned to Garnet, who seemed embarrased and annoyed that her mother had given the small secret away. "It was no use hiding it anymore."  
"Yes, _hiding_ it," Balthier said. "So what'll it be? We haven't got long. We both need to line up for this roadblock that seems to be going...rather poorly."  
Garnet and Brahne quietly discussed it. Finally, they agreed upon a decision. "We choose not to U-Turn," Garnet told the camera.  
"Atta girl," Balthier said. He and Fran handed their munny to Hayner and moved to the U-Turn mat as instructed.  
"We _do_ choose to U-Turn," Balthier said as Fran dug through the pictures.  
"Them," she added, holding up a picture of Reno and Rude for the camera. She stuck it on the board with a picture of themselves in the "U-Turned by" section.  
Both Garnet and Balthier opened up their clues from Hayner together and read through the clue. "Roadblock: Who's struggling to win?"  
"I will, I will!" Brahne shouted. "I've been _waiting_ to _hit_ something!"  
"I shall, as well," Fran said. "Seems to be a women's event today."

"What's the count?" Reno asked Rude as they easily batted the ball between the two of them at the 'Stand' detour.  
"About 150," Rude replied.  
"Maybe we should drop it to see how much munny we got, y'know?"  
Rude nodded, then sidestepped the ball as it came to him and allowed it to hit the ground.  
"Ooooh," the crowd said.  
"That's quite a bit!" a man said excitedly. He walked up to Reno and handed him 100 munny. "Normally, we only give 50 for anything over 20 hits, but we gave you a _bonus_ for making it over 100!"  
Reno snapped at the man as he pulled the munny from his hands. "So we just did fifty hits for nothing!?"  
"I... I guess so! We don't have a bigger prize than that."  
"Relax," Rude said to Reno. "Just do twenty-one this time."  
"Yeah, yeah," Reno said. "At least we stopped when we did."

Biran stood with his arms held high as the crowd cheered for the announcer, who just counted the twentieth ball. He handed Biran his clue, which Biran took and ran off stage to join Yenke. He ripped it open and read it. "Make way to Pit Stop at mansion. Only use Ronso legs. One team probably eliminated."  
"Ha ha!" Yenke laughed. "Humans going to lose because they not have Ronso legs!"  
Biran hit Yenke over the head. "Biran was paraphrasing! Now come, Yenke the Idiot."  
Biran and Yenke headed out of the Sandlot to find the Pit Stop at the mansion.

Dona took the stage once again, but once again was beaten easily by Setzer. She left the stage and Ma climbed up. She ran at Setzer and cried out, "Booya!" as she struck him in a downward motion with the bat. Then, as he was hunched over from the attack, she yelled, "Bat Rush!" and struck him again, this time in an upward motion. She scurried around to pick up balls as Setzer got his senses about him and rushed to get the balls back. He was about ready to knock them all off her, when she gave him a quick poke to distract him and the announcer called for time.  
The announcer counted up the balls, then handed Ma her clue. She read it to Zell. "Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop at the mansion outside of town. Warning: the last team to check in may be eliminated."  
"I think I saw that when we did Poster Duty," Zell said. "Follow me!"  
Ma and Zell raced off to Station Heights in search of the hole leading to the mansion.

"There!" Reno said, spiking the ball into the ground. "Munny, please." He held out his hand to the crowd. An old man gave them the 50 munny they needed, which they quickly grabbed out of his hand and headed off in pursuit of Hayner and the Sandlot.

Reina began her assault on Setzer and was doing decently at holding her own. She'd knock off a few balls and collect some, but Setzer would grab others. As they continued their match, Brahne and Dona moved closer together and started whispering to each other. It was hard to understand exactly what they were saying, but Dona at one point was heard mocking Reina for not grabbing enough of the red balls, which Brahne chuckled at. The announcer finally counted the balls Reina had collected. She came up three balls short.

Gippal waited at the Pit Stop mat and pointed to the approaching team. They ran up and stood on the mat.  
"Welcome to Twilight Town," Namine said.  
"Ma and Zell," Gippal said, "you're team number _two_!"  
"Get the heck out!" Zell responded happily. " _Two!?_ "  
"Two," Gippal repeated.  
Zell hugged Ma so tight that he lifted her off the ground.  
"But what happened to Biran and Yenke?" Ma asked.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Biran and Yenke continued to search Station Heights for the crack in the wall, just as they had been for the past little while. The area was huge and the Ronso unfortunately had started their search on the exact opposite side.  
"Biran blames Yenke," Biran said. "Mansions are _big!_ Biran should have seen it by now, but _Yenke_ is doing something to Biran's brain to make him not see it!"  
"Yenke cannot do these things!" Yenke argued. "As said in ancient scriptures: 'Ronso not able to have heads messed with as long as mighty horn exists.'"  
"It true. Biran is sorry for going against the teachings. Biran has very mighty horn."

Brahne took her turn at the Struggle. She faced off with Setzer and charged at him with a tremendous force. Unfortunately, speed was not her strong suit. Setzer was able to easily evade her attacks. After a minute of screams and attacks that would have otherwise beaten him senseless, the Struggle ended and Brahne had never hit him once.  
"Oh dear," Garnet said from the sidelines.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in Last Place]  
Reno and Rude reached Hayner and handed him the munny. Hayner motioned to the U-Turn sign. "Sorry, guys."  
"We expected it," Rude said. He watched intently as Fran walked on stage for her Struggle attempt, but only for a split second as Reno pulled him away and pointed him toward the 'Deliver' detour area.

Fran delivered a series of blows to Setzer. He also fought back and got some hits in, but Fran had yet to pick up any of the red balls. She counted to herself as she attacked, then, at fifty, she dove down and grabbed as many balls as she could and stuck them on her vest. When time was called, the announcer counted her up, then handed her a clue. She left the stage to join with Balthier, then ripped open the clue and read it.  
"No time to waste," Balthier said. "Very good job, by the way."  
"Thank you," Fran said. They made their way to Station Heights to find the hole leading to the mansion.

Gippal watched the next set of approaching team members as they walked to the Pit Stop mat and stepped on. Namine welcomed them, then looked to Gippal.  
"Biran and Yenke," Gippal said, "you're team number three!"  
"That Ronso record!" Yenke noted.  
"It sure is," Gippal said.

[Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in Last Place]  
Reno and Rude waited on their skateboards on the top of the incline, waiting for the man to count them down. "Three, two, one, go!" Reno had faster reflexes on the skateboard and shot down the incline. He threw letters to every person and animal that he passed to ensure he was not missing anything. Rude used the same strategy, even on people that Reno had already thrown a letter to. At the end of the incline, Reno spun around quickly and headed to the section on the side with several people, including the final girl requiring a letter. Rude, on the other hand, stayed straight and threw a final wad of several letters at the bird above him.  
"Time!" the man shouted. "Five out of five, move on to Poster Duty."  
"This detour is weird," Reno said as they headed to Station Heights for Poster Duty. "It's almost like we're doing _three_ detours with this U-Turn thing, y'know? The ball, the mail, and now the posters? Geez."

Dona fought once again against Setzer. She still failed to land any hits until suddenly, Brahne started jumping up and down and shouting, "Hurry and beat her already! I wanna fiiiiiight!" Setzer lost his footing from the sudden jumping of Brahne. Dona was unaffected by her jumps and used the opportunity to take a couple cheap shots at Setzer, knocking several of his red balls free. He regained his composure and after a quick glare at Brahne, he went after Dona, who was covering herself in balls. Setzer rose his bat to strike at her back, which held many of the balls, when suddenly, he stumbled again due to Brahne's resumed jumping and shouting. "Get her, get her, get her!"  
"Time!" the announcer proclaimed. He counted up the balls, ending the count at exactly twenty. He handed Dona her clue, which she took to Barthello.  
"Very _good,_ Dona!" Barthello said happily. He took the clue and ripped it open to read it to her. "Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop at the mansion outside of town. Warning: the last team to check in may be eliminated." He looked up from the clue and pointed to Station Heights. "Most teams went that way. We should hurry."  
"Hold your horses, Barthello," Dona said. "I've been knocked around so much, I need a rest and stretch."  
"I could carry you," Barthello suggested.  
"Just _drop it,_ Barthello. We still have a team that hasn't shown up. We'll be fine."  
"Yes, ma'am."

Fran and Balthier exited the small forest and found the mansion, where Gippal waited.  
"Fran and Balthier," Gippal said, "you're team number four!"  
"Not bad," Balthier noted.  
"Not good, either," Fran added.  
"True."

Reina took her second attempt at fighting Setzer. She went nearly blow for blow, but copying Fran's strategy, she left the balls on the ground until near the end. Several blows later, she dove on the ground and, in addition to grabbing balls, she also rolled on top of some of them. They stuck to her vest in addition to the ones she collected herself as they called for time. The announcer counted her up, then handed her a clue.  
"Thank you," she said to the announcer. She turned to Setzer. "And to you."  
Setzer bowed. "I'm rather enjoying playing with so money women. They rarely enter The Struggle."  
Reina met up with Faris and read her clue.  
"None of these look like mansions," Reina said. "Maybe we should look there?" Reina pointed toward the train station.  
"Nay, the rest of the teams have gone thataway," Faris said, pointing to Station Heights. "I imagine we'll find something thar."  
"Okay." The girls headed in the direction of Station Heights and both gave Dona a strange look as they ran past. Dona and Barthello were still in the Sandlot, waiting for Dona to rest and stretch.

Reno slapped up a poster and took the 150 munny from the man checking posters. He threw it in his pocket and ran to the Sandlot with Rude. As they entered the area, they saw Brahne walking on stage to try yet again. They continued to Hayner and handed him another 150 munny.  
"There you go," Reno said. " _Double_ the asking price. Don't say we never did nothing for you, y'know?"  
Hayner handed them their clue, which Rude quickly opened. "Roadblock: Who's struggling to win?"  
"Who's not?" Reno joked. "I'll do it. Stick combat is my thing."  
"Yes," Rude agreed.  
Reno began putting on his vest as he waited for Brahne's fight, which was going in the typical Brahne fashion: strong hits, but all missing. Garnet waited nearby and held her head high, actively supporting her mother. But yet, there was a definite sense of defeat in her.

"Barthello, I need your help," Dona said. "I need to stretch my back out. Would you lift me with those big ugly hands of yours so I can stretch more freely?"  
Barthello nodded, then lifted Dona in the air, holding her up by her waist. She stretched her arms above her head, then brought them down and laced her fingers together, palms facing the ground, then stretched in a seductive manner, all the while making sure to push her breasts together with her arms and thrusting her whole chest forward. Several of the men in the area noticed, most notably Setzer, who took a split second to check her out. Unfortunately, that was just enough time for him to completely forget about Brahne. He turned his attention back to her just in time to get clobbered by a _very_ powerful, momentum-filled hit. The red balls exploded from his chest as he flew backwards. Brahne picked up balls uninterrupted as Setzer was struggling to even get to his feet. The announcer finally shouted, "Time!" and began to count the red balls.  
"She has..." the announcer started. He counted the balls silently to himself. "Twenty-three balls!" The crowd cheered as he handed Brahne her clue. She joined Garnet and read the clue together, then they moved toward Dona, who had been put back on the ground in the meantime.  
"It's this way," Brahne said, pointing toward Station Heights.  
"Thanks," Dona said. "Let's _please_ get a move on. Reno and Rude are _not_ ones to be taken lightly."  
"Umm, what's going on?" Garnet asked her mother. She got no reply as the four moved together toward Station Heights.

"Listen," Rude told Reno as he started up the stage. "I heard of a loophole in this Roadblock. If you can knock your opponent out, the fight ends and you win instantly. No rules broken."  
"No kidding," Reno responded. "I'll be sure to make quick work of this then."  
Reno ran on stage and started waving his arms for Setzer to join him in the center. He then waved his hands for the audience to start, which they did. "Three, two, one, _Struggle_!"  
Setzer moved in for the first hit, but Reno ducked his attack, then jumped in the air and hit him on the left side of his head. Setzer was disoriented, but very much still conscious; that is, until the second and third blows to the exact same spot. Setzer's body went limp and fell to the ground.  
"Clue, please!" Reno shouted playfully to the announcer over the silence of the crowd.  
"Yeah, our winner," the announcer said. He handed Reno the clue. Reno handed him back a small vial of smelling salts.  
"That should wake him right up," Reno informed him. "It's an essential part of the Turk utility belt."  
He jumped off the stage and read the clue to Rude very quickly. "Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop at the mansion outside of town. Warning: the last team to check in may be eliminated."  
"I know where it is," Rude said.

"I see him!" Reina shouted from the forest. She and Faris ran forward and hopped on the Pit Stop mat.  
"Reina and Faris," Gippal said, "you're team number five!"  
"Good, we didn't get too lost then," Reina said with a smile.  
"Live ter fight another day," Faris said.

"This way," Garnet said, pointing to the hole in the wall. They headed through and found themselves in a small forest. They continued to walk with Dona and Barthello, but having found the hole in the wall, Dona and Barthello began walking at a much faster pace and broke off from Brahne and Garnet. Both groups suddenly found, however, that the forest was harder to navigate than they'd originally thought. They set off in two different directions, only to find themselves both reaching the end of the forest and having to turn back.

Reno and Rude ran through the hole in the wall that Rude had spotted during Poster Duty and looked around for the Pit Stop. Rude, having already made the mistake once, chose to actually take his sunglasses off in the dark forest. He pointed to a small break in the forest, where a light reflected off a white mansion, then motioned for Reno to follow him.

Gippal waited by the Pit Stop mat. He pointed to the approaching team as they ran up and stood on the mat.  
"Dona and Barthello," Gippal said, "you're team number six!" He looked up from Dona and Barthello and waved his hand toward the mat. "Come on in here, you two."  
The next team made their way to the mat and stood beside Barthello.  
"Brahne and Garnet, you're team number seven!" Gippal announced.  
"Oh, dearie me, it was so tough," Brahne said.  
"I'm confused," Gippal said. "Particularly with you, Dona. It seems you more or less _helped_ Brahne with her Roadblock by distracting Setzer."  
"It was _his_ fault for looking," Dona said. "I just needed to stretch and-"  
"Come on. Nobody stretches like that. Nor does anybody need to be lifted above the crowd to _do_ provocative stretching like that. Come clean."  
"Yes, please do," Garnet said. "I''m so confused."  
"We've formed a secret alliance, dearie," Brahne explained. "Dona and I. On the train. You and Barthello each went to the restroom, so we began talking. We were afraid you'd be against it."  
"Dona, is this true?" Barthello asked.  
"Yes," Dona said. "Brahne came up with a plan to knock out other teams. Any team would do, but our target was Reno and Rude."  
"Really?" Garnet asked. "But they did us a favor before when-"  
"Queen Brahne Alexandros does _not_ take handouts!" Brahne shouted. "They gave us that because they thought we were _weak!_ They were mocking us, dearie! _Nobody_ mocks _me_!"  
"And of course _we_ were upset that they called in for those tickets and took what should have been ours," Dona explained.  
"I see," Gippal said. "Well, congratulations on staying in the competition, you four."  
"Thank you," Garnet said.

"Welcome to Twilight Town," Namine said.  
"Reno and Rude," Gippal said, "you're the last team to arrive."  
"Don't let that stop you," Reno said. "Make it non-elimination and we'll call it even."  
"I'm sorry to tell you, you have been eliminated from the race," Gippal continued.  
"Nuts."  
"Apparently you were victims of a secret alliance."  
"Figures," Rude said.  
"It's cool though, y'know?" Reno said. "It took a secret alliance to take us out. And I'd just like to add, we were _fifty_ minutes behind a couple teams and check in, what, two minutes after them?"  
"We're the best racers," Rude said, "with the worst damn luck."  
"That about sums it up, Gip," Reno said. "Worst damn luck."  
"Glad you did it though?" Gippal asked. "The race, I mean."  
Reno and Rude paused to think. Finally, Reno responded. "Nope. We didn't win. No money. And a lot of people give sentimental crap about 'great to race with my best friend,' but I already knew this guy was my best friend, y'know? I don't need a stupid race to tell me that. We can run around the world, or worlds, or... whatever. It's not gonna change anything. Not winning just means he and I just wasted precious drinking time."  
"We could be making frequent drinker bucks right now," Rude said.  
"Yeah, seriously! If it weren't for this race, we could be spending money to drink and earn more free drinks!"  
"Sorry to waste your time," Gippal said.  
"Naw, we're just kidding," Reno said. "It was fun."  
"But you owe us a drink," Rude added.  
"Deal," Gippal replied.


	16. Episode 6, Part 1

Gippal walked out of a large, white mansion and into a large courtyard. "This is the mansion on the outskirts of Twilight Town. I... They tried to explain to me what this mansion and town were all about, but honestly, I couldn't follow it. What I _do_ know is that it was the location of the fifth Pit Stop in a race around worlds. Teams departed from the Wind Palace in the _Seiken 2_ verse and traveled to Twilight Town by train. Once there, they were faced with several tasks, all being very physical in nature. While some excelled from the addition of a skateboard as a means of transportation, it caused others to fall behind. Zone and Watts held onto an early lead due to being on the first train and beating out their competition, then grabbed their first first-place victory. As the only team on the final train, plus being targeted with a U-Turn by Fran and Balthier, Reno and Rude had a lot of ground to make up, which they failed to do, as they were the fifth team eliminated from the race. Will Brahne and Garnet remain allies with constant villains Dona and Barthello? Will Zone and Watts continue to hold their lead? And will Biran and Yenke stop referencing their horns? Zone and Watts, who were first to arrive at 10:10 am, will depart at 10:10 pm."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, 1st to Depart: 10:10 pm]  
Zone and Watts stood on the Pit Start mat and turned on the flashlight headbands they each wore. Zone ripped open the clue and read it to Watts. "Travel by train to Sunset Hill."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must make their way to the train station, then take a short ride to the nearby Sunset Hill. Once there, they will find their clue box at the train station upon their arrival."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"You have 120 gil for this leg of the race," Zone finished reading.  
"Okay, let's go," Watts said. He took the clue and put it in their clue pouch and headed to Twilight Town with Zone. They traveled on foot through the darkened, vacant city and found the train station. The lights were off and the large, glass doors were closed. On the door was a sign reading "Hours of Operation: 5:00 am to 10:00 pm."  
"Just missed it," Zone said. "I suppose we're camping tonight."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 2nd to Depart: 10:38 pm]  
Zell ripped open his clue and read it to Ma. "Travel by train to Sunset Hill. You have 120 gil for this leg of the race."  
"We sure do," Ma replied after thumbing through their gil. "Ready, Zelly?"  
"You bet, Ma!"

-{Ma & Zell: Interview}-

Ma and Zell sat in a couch inside the mansion. The windows showed the outside to be very dark.  
"We're totally psyched for this leg," Zell said. "We're in second place, and we intend to keep that."  
"Or increase it," Ma added.  
"Right, or that. But it's like we're finally back to where we started. We ended the first leg in second place, but we lost it and dropped _way_ down. We've been fighting ever since, but now it's like, we're back! So we're fired up!"  
"Some more than others, but we're both definitely eager to win this one."

-{End Interview}-

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, 3rd to Depart: 10:41 pm]  
Yenke ripped open the clue, which Biran grabbed from him and read. "Travel by choo-choo to Sunset Hill."  
"Why Biran stealing clues from Yenke?" Yenke asked.  
"Yenke is horrible reader."  
"So is Biran!"  
"But _Yenke_ is a time-waster!" Biran grabbed his backpack and punched Yenke in the arm, then motioned for him to follow.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, 4th to Depart: 10:45 pm]  
"Should be a rather relaxing race now that our competition is gone," Balthier said to Fran. He opened the clue and read it to her.  
"Try not to get _too_ cocky," Fran said.

Ma and Zell reached the station, where they found Zone and Watts in sleeping bags right beside the door.  
"Dangit!" Zell shouted. "I wanted to keep our lead!"  
Ma shushed Zell. "People are sleeping. Use your nighttime voice."  
"Sorry, Ma," he whispered. They began rolling out their own sleeping bags as Biran and Yenke arrived, closely followed by Fran and Balthier.  
"Not sleep time!" Biran shouted. Zone and Watts both were awakened by his voice. "Biran sleep whole time at big building! Biran not want sleep!"  
"Yenke either!" Yenke piped in.  
"I don't think we're going to get a whole lot of sleep _now_ ," Watts said to Zone. He rolled over and stuffed his pillow over his head.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 5th to Depart: 10:58 pm]  
Reina opened the clue and read it to Faris.  
"I be a bit frightened now," Faris said. "The best racers be gone. I expected ter face them in the finals. Seems anybody can win this race..."  
"I know what you mean. But at the same time, I think we'll have a better chance at winning with them out of the way."  
"Aye."  
The two ladies walked through Twilight Town, making sure to navigate to the train station correctly. They finally stumbled across the station and found most teams either resting or huddled in a circle, sitting and talking. Faris and Reina decided to join in the conversation. Faris found a seat between Biran and Balthier, while Reina used the gap between Ma and Zone. The only two that were not in the circle and instead opted to rest were Fran and Zell.  
"Glad you could make it," Balthier said as they sat down. "We were just talking about the disappearance of Reno and Rude."  
"I 'eard it were you that gave 'em the boot," Faris said to Balthier. "Thanks fer that."  
"Believe me, it was my pleasure. The U-Turn is an absurdly powerful delay point. As is the Yield, for that matter."  
"And Xing!" Biran added.  
"Err, no. Not really."  
"I hear you won," Reina said quietly to Zone. "Congratulations!"  
"Th-Thanks," Zone replied quietly.  
"We should work together."  
"What?"  
"To get ahead," Reina said. She looked around before saying more. "You and I should share information. Faris and I worked with the Turks once and were second and third place. We should do it from here until the final three. It should be both of our teams in the finals."  
"I agree, but I should check with Watts," he replied. He started to move to get up, but Reina touched his hand and asked him to wait. "I think we should keep it between only you and I."  
"Why?"  
"I don't think my sister wants me to share information."  
"Watts and I are really trying to avoid helping any teams though. It was our policy in this game to not help or hurt any teams."  
"I understand," Reina said. She paused for a moment. "Although, didn't Shinra and Rufus win because of their alliance with Yuna and Rikku?"  
"Possibly."  
"That could be us! Only this time, the girls might win," Reina smiled and elbowed Zone lightly in the ribs.  
"I'll think about it."  
"Great! I think I'm going to get some sleep. If we're on the same train, you should sit by me and we'll talk more."  
"Okay," Zone said. "I have to go lie down, too. My stomach hurts more than it has ever hurt before."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, 6th to Depart: 11:23 pm]  
Barthello ripped open the clue and read it to Dona. "Should we wait for our alliance?"  
"Of course not," Dona replied. "We only help them when it is convenient. Now lead me to the train station."  
"Yes, ma'am."

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Last to Depart: 11:26 pm]  
Brahne opened her clue and read it to Garnet. "Do you see our allies anywhere?"  
"No, I do not," Garnet replied as she counted their gil. "Shall we go?"  
"Hmm, fishy they would not wait." Brahne tapped her foot with her hands on her hips. "Okay then. Garnet! Let's go to the train!"

Upon reaching the station, Brahne and Garnet joined everybody in unfolding blankets to sleep the night in front of the train station. Even the Ronso were ready to sleep, despite their earlier tirade. Upon seeing Garnet unfolding a sleeping bag, the Ronso decided to move their sleeping pads to either side of her.  
"You aren't seriously going to sleep on either side of me, are you?" Garnet asked them as she crawled into her sleeping bag.  
"Hornless summoner need some Ronso protection," Biran informed her.  
"And three horns better than one horn," Yenke added. "Oh, look! Summoner not even have _one_ horn! Hornless! Hornless!"  
"Hornless summoner howl alone!"  
"I'm not- I- You two are such pests!" Garnet said before ducking her head down into her sleeping bag.  
"You be quiet you selfish little girl!" Brahne added. "If only _I_ were the meat in this kinky sleeping bag sandwich."  
Biran and Yenke both looked to each other and shook their heads. They stood up, grabbed their pads, and moved to a new location.

[5:00 am]  
All the teams had already put away their sleeping gear and were waiting at the glass doors leading into the train station. The doors opened automatically and all teams rushed inside to the ticket booth. There were two tellers handing out tickets. The first team to line up was Reina and Faris, followed by Zell, who was later joined by Ma. These two teams each approached one of the windows.

"What's your earliest train to Sunset Hill?" Zell asked.  
"There's one leaving in a half-hour," the teller informed Zell.  
"Great, we'll take it!"

"And how many seats are left?" Reina asked.  
"All of 'em. It's around a hundred," the teller replied.  
She looked back at the line, which seemed to be growing restless. Zone was slowly creeping into his fetal position and Garnet had her hands over her ears as the Ronso constantly yelled stupidities at her. "I see. Four please."

Zell took his and Ma's tickets, then headed to the train. Meanwhile, Reina took the four tickets and walked to the line. She handed two tickets to Watts and smiled.  
"There are plenty," Reina yelled over a crowd that started yelling at her for giving tickets to another team. "I'm just getting these two out of the line."  
"Thanks," Watts said. He took the tickets, then grabbed Zone by the arm and dragged him out of the line. They walked toward the train to catch up with Zell and Ma while Fran and Balthier walked to teller one and Dona and Barthello walked to teller two.  
"How much do we owe you?" Zone asked Reina.  
"Only forty gil," she said. Zone dug through their money and handed it over.

-{Reina & Faris: Interview}-

Faris and Reina stood alone in a corner of the train station. In the distance, each of the teams could be seen buying their tickets at the ticket booth.  
"I feel so bad about it, but we had to force an alliance," Reina said. "Zone and Watts have only let one thing out about their playing style: they're running their own race. But Faris and I decided to change that."  
"We bought 'em tickets and purposely made a scene to give it to 'em," Faris said. "By doin' so, even if they don't be needin' an alliance with us, it'd seem like they did."  
"The only downside to alliances, that we can figure, is that other teams will view you as a bigger threat. And we know Zone and Watts are trying their best to not be a big threat, but we're kinda forcing them to be viewed as such."  
"Now we be better off as allies. They be needin' the help."  
"We're just hoping the all-girl team will be the 'weaker' of the teams, so teams will target them over us... Sorry, Zone! Sorry, Watts!"

-{End Interview}-

All teams purchased their tickets, then entered the train. Dona and Barthello joined Garnet and Brahne in a booth, making their alliance public. Reina and Faris joined Zone and Watts in a booth farther away. The Ronso sat as close to Garnet and Brahne as possible without Brahne screaming at them to get back. All other teams separated and sat in their own booths.

The train soon arrived at the station in Sunset Hill. As the doors opened, the teams pushed and shoved to get out the doors and over to the clue box on the train platform first. The first to reach the platform were Ma and Zell. Zell grabbed a clue and ran to a corner with Ma. Zell ripped open the clue and read it to Ma. "Figure out one of this town's Seven Wonders to receive your next clue. You will not receive credit for a wonder if another team has already figured it out."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Sunset Hill is partly known for being the town with Seven Wonders. That is, seven places or events within the town are listed as being unexplainable, yet, each is actually very easily explained. Each team has a map with a marking and label telling them where each of the wonders are and what the wonder is. At each location is a box with an electronic display on the front. If the box says 'Wonder,' then teams may work to discover the wonder. Then when they explain the wonder to the box, it will open and give the team their next clue. At this point, the word 'Wonder' will change to 'Taken,' meaning that clue has already been taken and teams should move on to the next wonder. Phew, that's a mouthful!"

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
"It says one is... right here!" Zell shouted, looking at the map. "The Spooky Steps. It says here that somebody once noticed there are a different number of stairs if you count from the top down than from the bottom up."

"...a different number of stairs from top down versus bottom up," Balthier paraphrased as he read the wonder to Fran. "We should get counting then."

"We need to get this one so we do not have to run to another wonder," Garnet said. "Let's start counting stairs!"

"Let's move on," Zone said after reading the first wonder. "People will get caught up here. Let's go to the next closest. I don't care for crowds. Especially not on stairs."  
"I agree," Watts said. "Besides, it says one of the wonders involves a train."  
"Let's do that one!" He and Watts quickly ran past the crowd of teams looking over the stairs and headed for the next wonder.

"I think they're on the right track," Reina said to Faris. Faris agreed and they, too, ran past everybody on the stairs to search for a different wonder.

"We're too late," Dona said, watching people count the steps. "You're too stupid to count faster than _them_ , so we should find a different _wonder_."  
Barthello nodded. They ran down the steps and headed for the next wonder.

"It mystery!" Biran noted of the stairs. "Eighteen going down, seventeen going up!"  
"Even bigger mystery! Nineteen going up, seventeen going down!" Yenke added.  
"No, it's eighteen both ways," Balthier said. "Whoever counted these stairs is as daft as you two."  
The wonder box unlocked and a picture of Balthier and Fran appeared with the word "Taken" written in the foreground. Fran grabbed the clue as the other teams angrily ran off to find their next clue. She opened the clue and pulled out two clues: one yellow, one green. "There's a Fast Forward," she noted.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"This is the first of only two predetermined Fast Forwards. With a Fast Forward, teams can follow a set of instructions and bypass all remaining obstacles in the leg and go straight to the Pit Stop. However, teams can only use the Fast Forward once, so they must decide when it's most advantageous to use it. In this Fast Forward, teams must travel to Radiant Garden, formerly known as Hallow Bastion, and find a shack owned by Scrooge McDuck. What teams will not know is that, once there, they must each eat one of his famous "Sea Salt Popsicles." Once they have finished, they will hand their popsicle sticks to Mr. McDuck for their next clue."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place]  
"What do you think?" Balthier asked. "I'm near certain we're in first place. But we also might require the Fast Forward at a later point in time."  
"Let's try," Fran said.  
"Agreed." Balthier and Fran headed to the train station, where a new section of gummi ships awaited them. They boarded a ship and flew out into space.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams have been provided gummi ships, which are ships made of blocks that are capable of space travel, to travel to their next destinations. I... probably should've mentioned that earlier, but hey, it's in the clues."

"The Friend From Beyond the Wall," Faris read to Reina. "People be findin' lots of balls as if they were thrown from this here brick wall."  
"Let's investigate then!" Reina said. She and Faris searched the wall just as Ma and Zell were jogging by.  
"It's taken," Zell said. "They're smart. We should find the next spot."  
"Good idea," Ma said. She and Zell continued to the next location.  
"I don't get it," Reina said to Faris. "So people find balls here and- wait! What's that?" Reina touched a small button on the wall and a panel of bricks moved. Behind the panel was a gymnasium where several kids were playing dodgeball.  
"So... Somebody moved this panel and loose balls be flyin' out?" Faris said. The box opened and revealed their clue.  
"Nice!" Reina said. She ripped open the clue and showed Faris the Fast Forward. "You think?"  
"It be quite the risk, but she might be worth it," Faris said. "Let's try it!"  
"Okay!" she read the Fast Forward to Faris, then the two headed off to find a gummi ship to take them to Radiant Garden.

Zone and Watts stood on a hilltop waiting for the train to come by. Zone rechecked the clue and read it out loud. "The Ghost Train Mystery. According to rumor, a train with no passengers on a track to nowhere sometimes appears."  
"Well, we found the tracks, I think," Watts said, pointing down the hill at a set of train tracks that did not enter the Sunset Hill station. And look! It goes to Twilight Town, which is hardly going to 'nowhere.' And I can't see very far the other way, but I assume it goes somewhere... far."  
"There it is!" Zone shouted in Watts's ear. The train chugged along the tracks heading from Twilight Town to the mystery location. "And I think I saw somebody in there."  
"Looked like a boy, a duck, and a...weird...dog...thing."  
The wonder box popped open and pushed a clue out, which Watts quickly grabbed. He high-fived Zone, then opened the clue and pulled out the Fast Forward. "You think?"  
Zone quickly shook his head. "The stair counter will probably go for it. Let's return to our middle strategy."  
"Deal." He changed from the Fast Forward to the detour card. "Detour: Swim This Way, or Search That Way?"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In Swim This Way, teams must make their way to the underwater world of Atlantica and help direct a performance. Since it is underwater, they will have to put on underwater suits, then they will have to give cues to the performers based on a prompter in front of them. Whenever an exactly-timed cue is given, they will receive one point. If they are close but not perfect, they receive nothing. And if they are way off, they lose a point. In a total of twenty cues they must give, they must have five points by the end of it in order to receive their next clue. The task is not difficult, but putting on the suit could take a lot of time. And listening to their ridiculous song, might rot their brains.  
"In Search That Way, teams must make their way to the Land of Dragons and work with an army of Chinese soldiers that are awaiting an attack. Teams must help them discover the enemies that are preparing to ambush them by searching a nearby mountain path for the hidden soldiers. There are eight in total. When they find each one, he will give them a thumbprint on a piece of paper. When they have eight unique thumbprints, they will receive their next clue. The task is fairly easy, but climbing the harsh terrain can be very difficult, and finding all eight enemies could be difficult."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 3rd Place]  
"I think we should find the Land of Dragons," Zone said. "Underwater is high on my list of fears."  
"It sounds the most manly anyway," Watts said. "Now let's find those gummi ships!"

"The Moans From the Tunnel," Zell read as he and Ma entered the tunnel. "Moans are heard in this tunnel and nobody knows what they are."  
"Let's search!" Ma said happily. She ran through the dark tunnel until she came to an area lit by a single oil lamp. Zell joined her and they watched as a small black mage emerged from the corner, swinging away wildly with a blue foam bat.  
"He's such a little guy!" Zell said.  
"Looks like he's training for The Struggle," she replied. "Must be why there's all the moaning."  
They heard a box opening in the distance and both perked up immediately. They ran outside and found the box with their clue resting inside. Zell removed it and pulled out the Fast Forward, but passed it up for the detour card. "Detour: Swim This Way or Search That Way?"  
"Swim This Way sounds so much more fun. Can we, Zelly? Please?"  
"Sure, Ma! Let's go find the gummi ships!"

"There," Dona said, pointing to the wonder box beside a small, manmade waterfall. "What was the wonder again?"  
"The Doppleganger, where people reportedly see their doppleganger in the waterfall," Barthello informed her.  
"That's stupid. Is this whole world so stupid? It's a reflection."  
The wonder box popped open, putting a picture of Dona and Barthello up and the word "Taken."  
"I hate it all," Dona grumbled, taking the clue from the box. She opened it and pulled out the Fast Forward. "Should we?"  
"Others before us might have already-"  
"We're doing it," Dona said. "Nobody would choose to do it. There's a second one. They'll all be babies and want to _save_ it for later in the race. Besides, if we mess up, Brahne's team will give us enough information to catch up."  
"I hope you're right," Barthello said. Dona gave him a mean look, causing him to change his tone. "I mean, I know you're right."  
"Thank you, Barthello."

"This not fun at all!" Biran said, looking at the wonder box with Ma and Zell's picture on it. "Everything already discovered!"  
"We not tried Doppleganger yet!" Yenke pointed at the location on the map.  
"We try Doppleganger!"

"Mother, please hurry," Garnet said. They rode a trolley from one side of the town to the other and disembarked near the Doppleganger Wonder. They hurried to the waterfall, only to find the clue had been taken by Dona and Barthello.  
"Drat, drat, _drat_!" Brahne shouted. "That only leaves the mansion, which requires going back to Twilight Town, and the Animated Bag one, which is even further from here!"  
Garnet's ears perked up when she heard the word "hornless" blowing in the wind. "Oh no." She looked over her shoulder and, sure enough, the Ronso were walking their way.  
"Is summoner's wonder already taken?" Biran teased.  
"Need Ronso help figuring out hard wonders!" Yenke said.  
"There's only one wonder left here and the other is way back in the town," Garnet yelled at them. "And _we're_ going to get it! And _you're_ going to go home and 'howl alone!'"  
"Hornless summoner have backbone," Biran replied. "But Ronso will discover wonder first and make _summoner_ go home to howl alone!"  
"Howl alone! Howl alone!" Yenke echoed.  
All four ran to a lone hill on the outskirts of town, where, on a cliff overlooking the waters below, a bag danced around in the dirt around some trashcans.  
"Biran will get it!" Biran shouted. He ran at the bag and hopped on top to try to stop it from dancing around, but the bag continued to dance with him on top.  
"The Animated Bag," Garnet read. "There is a sack that occasionally moves or hops."  
"It's the devil!" Brahne guessed. The box did not respond.  
"There's something in the bag," Garnet noticed.  
Suddenly, Yenke rushed the bag and tackled it and Biran. The bag flew off and revealed a dog underneath. The dog seemed a bit angry that the large Ronso were on top of it.  
"Ronso win!" Biran mocked Garnet.  
"It's a dog under the bag," Garnet commented. The wonder box popped open with a picture of Brahne and Garnet on the cover.  
"Not fair! Biran did all work!"  
"But you didn't figure it out," Garnet informed them as she took the clue. "You two should hurry to Twilight Town to solve the mansion wonder."  
"Good luck, sweetums!" Brahne said to the Ronso as they ran back toward the Sunset Hill train station.  
Garnet ripped open the clue and pulled out a Fast Forward. Brahne made a weird, happy squeal, but Garnet shook her head and instead pulled out the detour. "Detour: Swim This Way or Search That Way?"  
"I'd _love_ to direct undersea concerts!" Brahne said happily.  
"Good. I'd really rather do it, too. It seems more our pace. Especially with our backgrounds with theater."  
Brahne and Garnet headed back to the train station area to receive their gummi ship.


	17. Episode 6, Part 2

Biran and Yenke reached Sunset Station and approached the ticket counter. A train was currently waiting at the station and two gummi ships remained in the distance: theirs and Brahne and Garnet's.  
"Ronso need two tickets back to Hornless Town!" Biran demanded, slamming money down on the counter.  
"One-way or roundtrip?" the teller asked.  
"BOTH way!"  
"I... I'll put you both down for roundtrip."  
Biran and Yenke paid for their tickets, then boarded the train, which departed soon after for Twlight Town.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 6th Place]  
Brahne finally reached the top of the Spooky Steps and waddled over to their gummi ship. Garnet walked slowly behind her. Despite being out of breath, Brahne immediately demanded she drive.  
"If you must, Mother," Garnet replied. She knew what she said made no difference to her mother, who had already entered the gummi ship and started adjusting the driver's seat to her size.  
"I must, dearie," Brahne replied.  
"Okay, let me ask directions first." Garnet found a station attendant and started to ask for directions, when she was interrupted by the gummi ship's horn.  
"Hurry up!" Brahne shouted from the ship. "We're in a race!"

Fran and Balthier flew their gummi ship toward a nearby world and landed. They disembarked from their craft and walked into the city. The architecture was an older style with cobblestone streets and wooden doors, but was not anything too strange. They entered a city square, where many stores surrounded an empty center, with their counters merchandise facing the square.  
"We need directions," Balthier said to Fran.  
"It was foolish to take off without them," she replied.  
"I honestly couldn't wait to get out of there. So many people on the same set of stairs. Besides, there was hardly a person to ask for them."  
Fran nodded. She and Balthier walked to the closest merchant and waited at the counter. Fran rang the bell as Balthier leaned on the counter as the man approached.  
"How can I help you?" the man asked.  
"Directions," Fran said bluntly.  
"We need to find a 'Radiant Garden,'" Balthier added.  
"You're in it!" the man replied happily. "Can I interest you in some potions?"  
"Err, no thanks. Can you instead point us to a Mr. Scrooge McDuck?"  
"The popsicle guy? He's right over there!" The man pointed to his left, then motioned for them to round the corner.  
"Thank you," Fran said. She and Balthier walked in the way the man indicated and found the man, or actually, the duck. He was a white, anthropomorphic duck wearing a blue outfit with red trim, a top hat, and a pair of glasses, which rested on the end of his bill.  
"McDuck seems to be more a description than a name," Balthier mumbled to Fran, who nodded. He turned his attention to the duck. "Greetings. We've come in search of the Fast Forward."  
"Have yeh then?" Scrooge McDuck said. "Well yeh be gettin' it when yeh eat some of my famous Sea Salt Popsicles!"  
"I don't suppose those are made of-"  
"Indeed they are! Sea salt! Salt straight from the sea!"  
"We must both eat them?" Fran asked.  
"Yup! One apiece!" He handed Fran and Balthier each a large, blue popsicle. "An' don't worry. The sea salt makes it so they don't melt so quickly! So yeh don't gotta be crammin' it down yer gullet too quickly!" He leaned in close to them and brought his hand up to his mouth as if to tell them a secret. "But yeh might just want to, seein' as how yer in a race."  
"Sound advice," Balthier said. He took a lick of the popsicle, then quickly retracted his tongue and shut his eyes tightly. "Bugger all! That's powerful! Fran, you'll want to turn your taste buds off for this one."  
"If they're as bad as they smell, I think my taste buds will be broken by the end," she remarked. She took a lick and reacted much like Balthier, only worse. Her knees started to buckle, but luckily, Balthier was there to grab her and keep her from falling.  
"Perhaps we should sit down while eating," Balthier said.  
"Or perhaps we should look at the detour and save our Fast Forward for later."  
As they sat and tried to decide whether or not to continue, another team rounded the corner and spoke with Scrooge.  
"We be requirin' yer Fast Forward," Faris said to him.  
"Here yeh are!" Scrooge handed Faris and Reina each a popsicle. Faris took the first lick, then sighed. "Reminds me of the sea. Best dessert I ever did have."  
"Detour it is," Balthier said. He reached into their clue pouch and pulled the Detour card out and read it to Fran. "Detour: Swim This Way or Search That Way."  
"We should search," she replied. She stood up and handed her popsicle to Balthier.  
He placed both in a garbage bin and waved to Scrooge. "Sorry, they're just not our cup of tea." They ran back to their gummi ship and hopped inside, but just as Balthier was about to take off, Fran opened her door and hopped out. "Where are you going?" he asked her.  
"Where are _you_ going?" she replied. " _I'm_ getting directions."  
"Good idea."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place]  
Biran and Yenke left the train station and retraced their steps to the mansion, running the entire distance. They found the Wonder box and read about the Lonely Girl rumor. "It says there a girl in mansion, but cannot be! Mansion is empty!"  
"Girl right there!" Yenke said. He pointed to an upstairs window, where the former greeter, Namine, was brushing her hair.  
The box opened. Biran grabbed the clues and first pulled the Fast Forward. "Ronso definitely need Fast Forward."  
"Ronso will get it!" Yenke replied. They raced back to the train station, where they boarded the train that waited their to take them back to Sunset Hill to find their gummi ship.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
Ma flew the gummi ship through space and finally found the underwater world of Atlantica. She parked in a designated area, where there was a small patch of land labeled as parking. Once they parked and exited the ship, Ma and Zell walked toward a sign labeled "Swim This Way." Next to the sign was a set of wetsuits and a couple of staff members prepared to help the teams suit up.  
"Okay, let's _do_ this!" Zell shouted. he grabbed a wetsuit, but was quickly told to put it down. He agreed and waited for instruction. "What's the deal?"  
"We don't know which suit you need yet," the instructor said. "We need you to sit on the edge of this platform and dip your feet into the water."  
"To get used to the water or something?"  
"Yeah, sure. Whatever. Get them in."  
Ma and Zell both removed their shoes and socks, then walked to the ledge and sat down. Zell was first to stick a foot in the water, when suddenly his foot turned gray with a very smooth texture. He quickly pulled his foot out and shook it off, turning it back into a human foot. "What the hell!?"  
"Zelly!" Ma scolded.  
"Okay, you'll need this suit then," the instructor said. He pointed to a suit with a mask, and a strange airtank that was designed with a vertical slit through the middle of it like a vertical doughnut hole.  
"What's with the hole? Is it a handle? Do I have to _carry_ my tank?"  
"Not at all." The instructor stood up and asked Zell to remove his shirt. When he did, the instructor took out a black marker and drew a line along Zell's spine, starting about three inches from the bottom of his neck, and continuing for about a foot. He then strapped the airtank to Zell's back, lining the tank up with the line he'd just drawn on Zell.  
"Shouldn't I put on the wetsuit first?" Zell asked.  
"You won't need a wetsuit. Here." He handed Zell a mask and the breathing apparatus connected to his airtank. After a quick explanation of how to use it, he told Zell to crawl into the water, feet first.  
Zell nodded, then slowly put his legs into the water. His legs instantly turned gray and slammed together, then, slowly absorbed each other until they became a long, slick, gray tail. "This...is normal, right?"  
"Perfectly," the instructor replied. "Now dive in the rest of the way."  
He slid into the water and suddenly, yet painlessly, a giant gray fin shot out his back and through the slit in the tank. Most of Zell's upperbody remained normal, though the area around the fin had turned gray.  
"Turns out, you're a shark!" the instructor said. "Well, half-shark anyway. Ready to find out what you are?" he asked Ma.  
"I'm not so sure," Ma said. "I guess so." She stuck her foot in the water and watched it turn green and pop out several green scales.  
"Okay, that's enough. You can pull your foot out." The instructor searched for her equipment and handed her a normal tank. "You're a normal mermaid. That's pretty lucky."  
"Of course I am." She turned to Zell, who was currently learning how to swim with his new tail, and shouted, "Zelly! I'm a beautiful mermaid!"  
"Of course you are, Ma!" he replied.

Dona and Barthello landed at Radiant Garden and headed to the Fast Forward area, where Faris was already halfway through her popsicle. Reina, on the other hand, had made very little progress in eating hers. Her face seemed permanently scrunched as she slowly took another lick.  
"Hurry up, Barthello," Dona ordered. He stepped forward and took two popsicles from Scrooge and listened to the lecture about the task. He took a lick and nobody could tell if he liked or disliked it, since his face is typically scrunched up anyway. Dona took a lick and started making gagging noises.  
"Should we give up?" Barthello asked Dona.  
"I can't just let another team _have_ a Fast Forward. We should try to beat them."  
"No, Dona," Barthello said forcefully. He took her popsicle and handed it back to Scrooge along with his own. "We should do a detour and not put ourselves out of this competition."  
"Well aren't you Mr. Big and Powerful. Take the lead then, Barthello."  
He pulled out the clue bag and found the detour card, then read the options to Dona. "Swim This Way or Search That Way."  
"You're being the man, _finally._ You decide."  
"Swim," he replied. They walked back to their gummi ship and, after a stop to get a map, flew toward Atlantica.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"So you and umm, Reina," Watts said. "What's happening there?"  
"Nothing!" Zone said.  
"Whoa whoa, I wasn't asking about how much you like each other -though I might ask soon. No, I was curious about the secret planning you're doing. Something's going on."  
"Oh, right. Reina wants to share information to put both of our teams in the finals."  
"Not a bad thought," Watts said. He paused for a moment. "But you _know_ we came in with a strict 'no info sharing' policy. We don't want to be wrapped up in crazy alliance wars or anything. We wanted to float under the radar, and alliances are _not_ under the radar."  
"I know... But we might not have a choice now. Not after that stunt they pulled at the train station."  
"Yeah. Well, let's just play this thing out a bit and see what happens. But just remember: her sister is a pirate, and pirates aren't exactly people we should be trusting."  
Zone nodded, then at Watts's instruction, began holding onto his seat tightly as they pulled in for a landing. They landed in a campsite, where several warriors walked around. Zone and Watts exited their ship and began weaving through the numerous tents until they finally found a trail marked as "Search That Way." It led them to a mountain range only a short distance away. There was little there besides dirt and rocks, but the rocks were large and several ledges obscured their vision.  
"Let's get started," Watts said. He took a piece of paper and an ink pad from a small table at the entrance, then he and Zone started to search through the many blind cliffs of the mountain.  
"There!" Zone said quickly, pointing to a nearby man hiding behind a large rock. They ran to him and held out their piece of paper and ink pad. He took the paper, stuck his thumb in the ink, then pressed it against the paper.

Zell and Ma swam through the water until they finally reached the bottom. There were several fish and other oceanlife, some of which held musical instruments. Others seemed ready to perform in others ways. A mermaid with red hair swam up to them and explained how it would work.  
"We need your help in our performance," she said. "We have a small, waterproof computer screen that will show you all our dance steps and musical cues. When we wait for a cue, we need your help in telling us when to start. So please, when you see a note coming up, give each other a high-five! That way we'll know when to jump in! If you get five perfect cues, we'll give you a clue! But remember, for a _bad_ cue, we have to take a point away..."  
Ma gave a thumbs up, since she and Zell were speechless underwater with their breathing apparatuses in their mouths. She and Zell each held their hands up to high-five, but kept them a few inches apart.  
Suddenly, the fish began to play their musical instruments and the computer screen began scrolling musical notes from right to left. On the left was a vertical line that was labeled as the "high-five line." A note appeared on the right of the screen and slowly began to make its way to the high-five line. The mermaid, accompanied by another dolphin-like merman, sang and danced in a large, open clam shell. "Swim this way we'll dance and we'll play now-" As they sang "now," the note crossed the line and glowed as it touched it. Zell and Ma attempted a high-five, but had not factored in the slow movement underwater, so they did not get a 'perfect' attempt, though not 'horrible,' either. The performance continued and the computer continued to display "0 Perfect Notes" at the top.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place]  
The train pulled into Sunset Hill, where the Ronso disembarked. They headed to the last remaining gummi ship and headed out toward Radiant Garden for the Fast Forward.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Brahne and Garnet reached Atlantica and parked beside Ma and Zell's ship. They got out and headed toward the ledge, where they followed the same instructions that Ma and Zell had previously. Garnet dipped her foot in and watched it turn a silvery blue color. She pulled her foot out with a surprised look, then watched as Brahne did the same. Hers turned a grayish brown.  
"I see," the instructor said. He handed each of them their designated equipment and, once their gear was on, watched them dive into the ocean.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 4th Place]  
Fran and Balthier exited their gummi ship and headed through the campsite and out to the mountain to join in the search for the eight warriors. Balthier picked up the paper and ink pad.  
"I hope that nose of yours comes in handy," Balthier said.  
"It would if you wore less cologne," she replied.  
"Well...do what you can."

"A musical for everyone to have a lot of finny fun," the mermaid sang. The song ended and the sea creatures concluded their performance. Ma and Zell tried to clap, but it was difficult to do underwater. The mermaid swam closer and looked at their screen. "Let's see how you did!" She looked down at the screen, then looked up and smiled. "Congratulations, you had seven!" She handed them their clue, which was wrapped in plastic to keep from getting wet. Ma and Zell swam toward the surface, when suddenly they passed two other half-humans swimming their way. Garnet had a long, silvery blue tail, a tall, black crescent-shaped dorsal fin, and a long, pointed nose. She was half-human, half-swordfish. Behind her, swimming very poorly, was a fat, brown half-walrus, half-Brahne creature. Her two large tusks stuck out on either side of her breathing apparatus. Zell and Ma admired their forms for a moment, then continued swimming to the surface. They both emerged and swam to the platform to take their equipment off. They finally (with help from the instructor) came out of the water and turned back to themselves. Even their clothing returned.  
"Did you see that?" Zell said to Ma. "Brahne's a walrus- well, she kinda was before, but _Garnet_. Man, my fin sucked, but she has a fin _and_ a long, pointy nose."  
"This was an amazingly fun detour," Ma replied. "Thank you for indulging this old lady, Zelly."  
"No prob, Ma!" Zell picked up their clue and ripped it open. "Travel by gummi ship to the Olympus Coliseum."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel by gummi ship to the Olympus Coliseum. They will find their next clue by the large gates in front of the coliseum."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
"We're on a roll, Ma!" Zell said happily.  
"I think we can win, Zelly!" Ma said. "I hope the Fast Forward is difficult..."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place]  
Biran and Yenke landed in Radiant Garden and made their way to the Fast Forward location. Faris had almost completely finished her popsicle, while Reina was still working on hers very slowly.  
"Biran want that!" Biran said. "One for Yenke, too!"  
Scrooge handed them each a popsicle and they both immediately licked them. After two licks, Biran bit his in half and started chewing it. Both girls and Yenke stopped eating theirs to watch as Biran's expression turned to horror. He spit out the entire half of his popsicle and started grabbing at his own throat. "Biran's brain so cold! Make it stop! Biran want eat fire!"  
"No, Biran!" Yenke shouted, dropping his own popsicle to help Biran. "Remember that time Biran eat fire before? Biran was in hospital!"  
"Biran refuses to eat more popsicle! Yenke! Drag Biran back to ship and go to detour."  
"Which detour?"  
 _"Biran not care which detour!"_  
"Okay! Ronso doing," Yenke closed his eyes and pointed to the card. "Swim This Way!"

"Our competition keeps leaving us," Reina said as she continued to lick her popsicle.  
"Ahh, I like it that way," Faris said as she swallowed the last bit of popsicle. She kicked her feet up onto the table and tossed her popsicle stick to Scrooge. "It be up ter you now, sister."  
"I'll do my best!"

[Zone & Watts: 6 Fingerprints]  
"This is tough," Zone said. "There's one! -err, no, we got him already."  
"I know," Watts mumbled. He climbed onto a rock and began looking around for the next warrior. On the back of his card, he had drawn a map of the area and put x's where they had already found warriors. He pointed to an area in the middle of the mountains. "Try there, Zone. We haven't found anybody over there yet."  
"Okay!"

Brahne and Garnet began to instruct their underwater band. The first cue started to come up, so Garnet waited patiently with her hand raised for a high-five, when suddenly Brahne slapped her hand early. Garnet looked at Brahne with a confused gaze, but Brahne just shrugged. The song continued and, once again, Brahne jumped the gun. Their score remained at 0.

[Fran & Balthier: 7 Fingerprints]  
Fran sniffed the air as Balthier stayed a fair distance away, trying his best to fan himself so his cologne wouldn't mask any smells from the Viera. She pointed a short distance away. Balthier followed behind her as she rounded a large rock and found nothing.  
"Not here," Fran noted.  
"Nope, but he is there," Balthier said, pointing across a gap in the mountain. He followed the trail with his eyes. "This way." He and Fran ran along the path to their final warrior. He gave them his thumbprint, then, they headed back to camp. Once there, the warrior leader, Li Shang, looked over the list of thumbprints. He examined them closely, then handed the team their next clue.  
Fran ripped open the clue and read it to Balthier, then, headed back to the gummi ship to find Olympus Coliseum.

Dona and Barthello reached Atlantica and walked to the ledge, then followed the instructions. Barthello put his foot in first. It turned black with a white patch. Dona put her leg in and it suddenly broke into several transparent strands. She pulled her leg out of the water quickly and backed up from the water.  
"What the _hell_ is wrong with your water?" she asked the instructor.  
"People turn into half -well, sometimes full- human, half-sea-creatures," he replied. "For example, your friend here is part killer whale."  
"And _me_?"  
"Ummm... You... You're part jellyfish. When you get in, your entire lower half will turn into transparent tentacles. Oh, but your top half will be just fine!"  
"Wonderful. Barthello! We're leaving."  
"We'd leave the whole race to switch detours, Dona," Barthello said. "Please, let's not switch."  
"Fine, Barthello, but you're doing _all_ the work."

"Oh, sorry," the mermaid said to Brahne and Garnet. "Only two. But you can try again! We _love_ to practice!" Garnet nodded and Brahne gave a thumbs up. "Wonderful! Places, everybody!"  
Garnet grabbed Brahne's hand and held it up, but held it very steady. She tried using body language and eye contact to imply for Brahne to keep her hand steady, but come the first note, Brahne again high-fived too early.

[Zone & Watts: 8 Fingerprints?]  
Zone and Watts headed back to the campsite with what they thought were eight unique fingerprints. Watts handed their card to Li Shang, who analyzed the card carefully. He hesitated for a while, then, finally, handed them their next clue.  
"Yes!" Watts said. "I _told_ you that last guy wasn't a repeat! He wasn't marked on our map!"  
"Okay, okay, good," Zone replied. "Now let's see. Travel by gummi ship to Olympus Coliseum. Okay, let's go!"

Yenke landed the gummi ship at Atlantica with a now fully recovered Biran. They sat on the ledge as instructed and stuck their feet in the water. Yenke's turned gray, while Biran's turned a combination of white and brown. They put on their gear and jumped into the water. Both watched in horror as each of their horns fizzled away, but Biran's was replaced by a horn- _like_ object. It was not quite as firm as a horn, but it had a light at the end of it that dangled in front of his face.  
"Biran hate this shiny thing!" Biran shouted. "It bothers Biran! Distracts him!"  
"Biran..." Yenke mumbled. When Biran looked at Yenke, who was hiding his face from him.  
"Yenke, what wrong?"  
"Yenke... Yenke horn...gone!" He turned to look at Biran and sure enough, his horn was completely gone. He did, however, have many whiskers on his face. "Yenke is _catfish_!"  
"Most hornless of all creatures," Biran said somberly. "Now even little Kimahri and little Kimahri's little horn stump bigger than yours."  
Suddenly, both Ronso stopped their conversation as the holy grail of horns began to slowly emerge from the water. It was a long, shiny blue and gray horn that seemed to go on for miles to the two Ronso, though in fact it only went on for a couple of feet. Biran and Yenke averted their eyes as the sun shined brightly off of the horn's owner as she emerged from the water. The adjusted their eyes and looked over the horned-one.  
"It," Biran started to speak, but then took a long pause. "It hornless summoner!"  
"Not hornless at all! Horn longer than all Ronso horns!"  
Garnet spit out her breathing apparatus and turned to the Ronso. She had a clue in her hand, despite Brahne's poor start. "What's wrong?" she asked the Ronso.  
"Hornless summoner have mighty horn!"  
"Oh... Thank you." Garnet swam toward the platform with Brahne, leaving the two Ronso floating in the water. She and Brahne, with help from the instructor, exited the water and took off their remaining underwater gear.  
"Sorry about the detour, dearie," Brahne said to Garnet. "I was so enjoying the show, you see! I tend to clap to music and well, that does not work when clapping is their cue..."  
"It's all right. We barely made the required five, so now let's find out where we're going next." Garnet ripped open the clue and read it to her mother.  
"Off we go!" Brahne said. She entered the gummi ship and strapped herself in, while Garnet did the same. "Swim this way we'll dance and we'll play!" Brahne sang as the gummi ship fired off into space.

"There!" Reina finally said. She handed Scrooge her popsicle stick and he handed her a clue. She ripped it open and read it to Faris. "Make your way to the Pit Stop at The Dark Depths in Radiant Garden."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Having won the Fast Forward, Reina and Faris can now skip all tasks and go directly to The Dark Depths in Radiant Garden, the Pit Stop for this leg of the race."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Wow, that's even right here in this world!" Reina said.  
"Aye. Let's capitalize on this lead!" Faris replied. The spoke with Scrooge about directions, then took off running through the town.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Ma landed the gummi ship at Olympus Coliseum. There was a large coliseum with golden statues and marble pillars to one side, but a large gate on another side. Beside the gate sat their clue box. Ma and Zell jogged to the box and Zell pulled out their next clue. "Roadblock: Who's going to hell?"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this roadblock, that team member must travel through the underworld and find Hades's Lair. Once there, they will find several pieces of thread on the ground. Each of them has a small label attached to them saying who they belong to. Teams must find their partner's thread, then take it to the three ladies, who will give them a pair of scissors. Then, they must take the pair of scissors and cut the piece of thread, symbolizing the death of their partner. Then, they will receive their next clue, which they can read once they return to their partner. The task is both physical and luck. The path to Hades's Lair is very long and uphill. Then to sort through the thread, could take a long time.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"How rude!" Ma remarked. "I should hope neither of us are going to hell!"  
"I'll do it, Ma," Zell said. He read through the roadblock details, then handed his things to Ma before jumping through the large gate. He went down a large set of stairs into a gloomy world with dark paths lit by blue fire. Under the paths and to the sides was a large body of water, where dead souls floated lifelessly.  
"And I thought it was a metaphor," Zell mumbled to himself. He ran along a path marked by arrows through a large, creepy gate, where more creepy paths and lifeless souls awaited him.


	18. Episode 6, Part 3

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris walked through the caverns on the outskirts of Radiant Garden's settlement. They finally came to one cliffside, where they looked out over a large gorge and saw Gippal and another person standing at the Pit Stop mat. The mat, however, was down in middle of the gorge, while the girls were on a cliff with no way down.  
"They don't expect us to climb, do they?" Reina asked Faris.  
"I should expect not, though I be willin' if we must," she replied.  
"Let's continue to search then!"

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Balthier landed his gummi ship at the Olympus Coliseum. He and Fran hopped out of the ship and found the clue box near the door and beside Ma, who was waiting for Zell to complete the roadblock. Balthier found the clue and opened it.  
"Unless this has something to do with hopping down the bunny trail, I think I'll take it," Balthier told Fran. Fran glared at Balthier. "Roadblock: Who's going to hell? Nice. I suppose comments like mine aren't helping me out of that."  
"I don't think many people are sent to hell for making fun of Viera," Fran said.  
"Either way, I'd do anything to keep you from hell, so I'm doing it. Also you've done far more roadblocks than I." He read through the details, then bowed to Fran and Ma before making his way through the large door to the underworld.

Dona and Barthello were underwater, watching the performance. Dona was trying her hardest to cover her ears, but was finding it difficult to do with only one free hand (Barthello was high-fiving the other at critical times) and with the echoes carried through the ocean water.  
The performance ended and, despite the finny fun Barthello was having, the mermaid informed them that they only got four notes. "You can try again though," the mermaid said cheerfully, "but those two are next." She pointed at Biran and Yenke, who slid into the director's spot and began their attempt. Both Ronso started dancing as the music began, then high-fived to get a perfect point at the first opportunity. Dona and Barthello waited to the side, where Dona made use of her jellyfish tentacles and lightly stung Barthello in the arm. He was not pleased.

Zell started to walk when he hit an upward part to the journey through hell. "Man, this is a long way!" he commented to himself. He saw Balthier approaching and had a sudden burst of motivation as he changed his walk to a jog. He continued up the path until, finally, he reached Hades's Lair. He opened the door and inside saw three old ladies sharing a single eye to see. They traded it around as they spoke to Zell.  
"Welcome," the tall, blue-colored one with a large, pointed nose said. "Please search among these hairs to find your partner's."  
Zell looked around at the ground, which was covered with hair. He noticed that they were separated by color, but that was hardly helpful among the several hairs. Each hair was marked with a small tag saying who it belonged to, but the tag was very small and hard to read the names.  
"Here," the short, pink-colored one said, handing Zell a magnifying glass. He took it and headed over to the pile of brown hair.  
"I sure hope you have brown hair, Ma," he said to himself.

"Very good!" the mermaid said to Biran and Yenke. She handed them their next clue and called Dona and Barthello back to the detour.  
The Ronso swam back to the platform and got out of the water, turning back into their old selves. Both admired the return of their horns and even tried to kiss them, but failed.  
"Ronso have _wonderful_ rhythm!" Biran said to the instructor, who helped them take their gear off.  
"I didn't ask," the instructor replied, though Biran was hardly listening.  
The Ronso read their clue before jumping into their gummi ship and flying off to find the coliseum. Both sang the song they'd just heard, although neither was 100% sure about the lyrics, so there was a lot of mumbling. There was also a lot of substitution of the word "fin" for "horn," which was especially disturbing with their final line: "A musical for everyone to have a lot of horny fun."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris found a path leading to the gorge and ran to Gippal at the Pit Stop mat. They jumped on and were greeted by a man with shaggy brown hair and scar across his nose. He wore a short, blue jean jacket, black pants, and a several red belts, all of which were purely decorative.  
"Welcome to Radiant G-" he said.  
"Wow, it's Squall!" Reina said. "You were on season one!"  
"I'm not Squall," he replied. "My name is Leon. Welcome to Rad-"  
"Yes you are! We loved watching you and Rinoa! Too bad about-"  
"Gippal..." Leon mumbled.  
"Err, right," Gippal said. "It's Leon, but it doesn't matter because, Reina and Faris, you're team number one!"  
"Ya-har!" Faris cheered. "The Tycoon sisters be settin' themselves up ter win this here race!"  
"This is your second win," Gippal commented. "Think people will start to fear you? Remember, we still have three more delay points in this race."  
"We've conquered worse situations," she replied.  
"We'll be fine," Reina said. "We'll ride this victory all the way to the end! And neither of us will throw the other into a portal and spend the rest of the race trying to find her and-"  
" _Gippal..._ " Leon said through gritted teeth.  
"Reina, please," Gippal said. "It was hard enough to get him to come here. He doesn't want Rinoa to know that he came back to help out."  
" _Gippal... Not helping..._ "  
"Well, congrats, you two," Gippal said to Reina and Faris.  
"Thanks!" they replied.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place]  
Zone and Watts hopped out of their gummi ship at Olympus Coliseum and joined Ma and Fran, who waited beside the clue box and chatted. Zone slipped in between them, looking very uncomfortable as he did so, and grabbed his and Watts's clue. He handed it to Watts, who read it. "Roadblock: Who's going to hell?"  
"You're still behind in roadblocks," Watts advised Zone. "I say you should do it."  
"It sounds scary," Zone said. "I think I'll wait this one out. Good luck, Watts!"  
"Oh, okay. You feel like standing here with these _very_ chatty women? Okay then."  
"Err, wait." Zone patted his stomach. "Yeah, I just realized that I'm behind in roadblocks, so I think I'll do this one if that's okay."  
"I thought so." Watts handed Zone the information about the roadblock, then sent him on his way. In the meantime, Watts headed over to chat with Ma and Fran.  
"Here, we'll ask him," Ma said, pulling Watts in. "Now Watts, who is more attractive: Fran or Garnet?"  
"This must be why Zone avoids you people. I don't think there's a good answer to this question."  
"No, there isn't, but your silence will lead us to make our own guesses about your answer, which could be worse," Fran added.  
"I see. I'll pick Garnet, actually. I like black hair and your bunny ears, no offense, but they confuse me."  
"I was wrong then," Fran said to Ma. "But he is definitely nervous when around me."  
"Afraid, actually," Watts butted his way back into the conversation. "I've heard you're very powerful, so I'm afraid to look at very much of you. You wear revealing clothes and I'm afraid you'll hurt me if I look in the wrong spot."  
"I'll give advice then. Never look a Viera in the eyes, it drives us mad, but never look at our bodies as objects."  
"No eyes, no bodies, got it... Anything else?"  
"No ears."  
"...I see. I'll be over here, looking at the dirt then," he said. He walked to the other side of the clue box and sat against the wall. Ma and Fran both chuckled.

[Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 5th Place]  
Garnet and Brahne finally landed at Olympus Coliseum and hopped out to join the crew at the clue box. Garnet reached inside and pulled out her clue, but was distracted by Ma, who shouted, "Look who's here!" to Watts, then pointed not-so-subtly at Garnet. Ma laughed, Fran chuckled, Brahne laughed (though she didn't know why), and Watts started bumping the back of his head against the coliseum wall. He repeated, "What's wrong with women?" to himself while bumping his head.  
Garnet opened the clue and read it to the still laughing Brahne. "Roadblock: Who's going to hell?"  
"Oh well, dearie, I believe that's you," Brahne replied.  
"I- What? Me? Why?"  
"Not too good at studying commandments, are we, dearie? Honor thy mother? Obey thy mother, even when she wants you dead? Ringing any bells?"  
"I don't think I have it in me... Whatever this task requires. Perhaps you should do it?"  
"Dear, you just might be going to 'heck' for recommending that your mother go there."  
"I just think that, well, by this clue, it really might involve doing something I would not be happy with myself for doing..." Garnet trailed off. "But I guess I can-"  
"No, you're right. This might require a strong woman, and I'm just that woman! I'm doing it!" Brahne read through the details with Garnet. "Uh oh, dearie..."  
"Good luck?" Garnet said with a shrug.  
Brahne stretched her legs, then waved toodaloo to everybody as she trotted inside to the path to Hades's Lair.  
"We should've looked at who was already doing the detour," Garnet said to herself. "It's all my fault."  
"It's not your fault," Watts said from his position seated on the ground. "You never know how she'll do. Best to just sit and wait it out."  
Garnet hesitated, then nodded. "Yes. You're right. Would you mind if I wait with you?"  
"Not at all, pull up a umm, dirt," Watts said, scooting to one side, despite the fact that there was already plenty of wall space for her.  
"Oooooohhh," Ma squeaked in the corner quietly. Watts just rolled his eyes.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in Last Place]  
Dona and Barthello high-fived on the final note of the performance and were rewarded with a clue and a smile from the friendly mermaid. They immediately swam to the surface and headed toward the platform.  
"That was _so_ annoying," Dona complained. "Who ever heard of 'finny fun?' Or anything in that performance for that matter."  
"It was-" Barthello started, but he was met with a light sting to his butt. "Ouch! Dona!" he whined.  
"I like these tentacles. They make you stop _talking_ and start _swimming._ We're _behind,_ if you haven't noticed. Hurry _up_ , Barthello."  
"Yes," he replied stoicly.

"Wow," Balthier said as he entered Hades's Lair. He saw Zell scouring through the hair-covered floor with a magnifying glass and the three women standing in the corner, waiting with their pair of scissors. "I suppose I'll just dig in then." Balthier grabbed a magnifying glass and began searching among the white and silver colored hairs.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 6th Place]  
The Ronso landed at Olympus Coliseum beside the four other parked gummi ships. While parking, Biran's ship scraped against the side of Ma and Zell's ship. They jumped out and grabbed a clue. "Roadblock: Who going to hell?" Biran read.  
"Yenke not," Yenke replied. "Yenke been very good Ronso. Santa visit Yenke almost all Christmas!"  
"Biran too! Biran thinks _Yenke_ should do it."  
"Okay, Yenke will do it." Yenke read through the clue, then jumped through the gate and headed through the underworld. He jogged along the path and watched all the souls floating along beneath him. It was obvious that he was afraid of the souls.

"Yo Balthier," Zell shouted to Balthier. Both were on all fours, searching through different piles of hair. "Any luck?"  
"Not yet I'm afraid," Balthier replied. "This is quite the mess of hairs. I never in my life pictured myself doing this."  
"Same here. This kinda reminds me of my shower when I forget to routinely unclog it."  
"I see. I'm just trying to make the connection between 'threads of life' and hair... Would've been much nicer to find threads, I suppose. Although, with hair, we can rule certain things out like hair color and..."  
"And what?" Zell asked.  
"And texture. Aha! I've found it!" Balthier stood up with a strand of hair labeled as "Fran." He took it to the women and handed it to them. The short, pink one gave him the pair of scissors while the tall blue one held the hair tightly between her fingers.  
"If this somehow hurts Fran, you know I'm coming right back here to make you pay.." Balthier cut the hair and handed the scissors back to the pink one. The tall, green-colored lady with a large, pointed chin handed him his clue. He took it and raced out the door, almost colliding with Zone, who had just entered the room.  
"Oh man," Zone said. "I don't know what color hair Watts has! He always wears that stupid blue beanie thing!"  
"I'd suggest you start quickly then," Zell said. He was hidden from sight, but a bundle of hair in the corner where the voice came from was moving up and down.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in Last Place]  
"Great, everybody is here," Dona said as Barthello parked the gummi ship. They exited the ship and walked to the roadblock, where Dona grabbed a clue. "Roadblock: Who's going to hell?"  
Barthello was silent.  
"Barthello. Do it."  
"Yes, ma'am," Barthello finally said. He read through the clue, then walked through the door. Dona, meanwhile, headed back to the gummi ship to wait in silence.

"Found it!" Zell shouted. He jumped up out of a giant hairball. Several hairs went each direction and he presented the hair with the "Ma" tag on it to the three women. He cut the hair and took his clue, then raced full-speed out of the room. As he ran down the path, he saw Brahne at the uphill section of the path, with Yenke slowly closing in on her. His target, however, was Balthier, who was almost halfway back to the start. Zell raced as quickly as he could, passing Brahne and then Yenke.

Balthier ran through the door and grabbed Fran by the arm, leading her away from the group. "Sorry, Fran, but we really must be going." Once they were near their gummi ship, he read the clue to Fran. "Make your way to the Pit Stop at Radiant Garden. Warning: the last team to check in may be eliminated."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now make their way to the Pit Stop at the gorge at Radiant Garden. The last team to check in...may be eliminated."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"Let's hurry, I could swear I saw that Zell fellow catching up to me." Balthier jumped into the driver's seat as Fran slid into the passenger's seat. She opened up her map, but Balthier shook his head. "I know where we're going. It's the same place as the Fast Forward that we changed our minds about."

Zell slid out of the gate and waved his clue in the air for Ma to see. She clapped and walked with him back to their gummi ship. Ma read the clue, since Zell was out of breath, then, the pair boarded their gummi ship and took off in the direction of Radiant Garden.

"Oh _my_ that's a lot of hair," Brahne said. She was not, however, in Hades's Lair. She was merely commenting on Yenke's back, since he had just passed her. Both were nearing the lair, though, and Yenke, being the gentle-Ronso that he is, held the door open for Brahne as they both entered to see all the hair.  
"Oh **_my_** ," Brahne gasped when she saw the room full of hair. "I suppose I'll be in the black section, since I know my dear Princess Garnet has black hair."  
"Where Ronso section?" Yenke asked. "Biran have two color hair: yellow and Ronso-color!"  
"Well whichever you choose, good luck with it, sweetheart."  
Brahne dove into the black hair quite literally, since she slipped on some hair and fell into it. Yenke started searching the oddly colored hairs in search of a "Ronso-colored" hair, referring to a Ronso's blueish fur color.

Barthello stomped up the path and finally entered Hades's Lair. He quickly found the black hair section with Brahne and started searching.

"How do you think it's going?" Garnet asked Watts.  
Watts shrugged. "Not sure. I know Zone is a really methodical guy, but that almost might hurt him since it's such a random luck thing. Your mother seems pretty smart, but I'd be afraid of a temper tantrum in there."  
Garnet chuckled. "Me, too."  
"Then there's Yenke and Barthello. A couple big guys looking through tiny pieces of hair. Seems kinda funny when you think about it."  
Biran stood out a short distance from Garnet and Watts. He paced back and forth and only looked up from the ground to check the gate and see if anyone was coming through.  
"He seems nervous," Garnet commented to Watts.  
"We all are."  
"Yes, but he's not making 'hornless' comments. This is really bothering him."  
"It's hard because we can't see our partners doing the roadblock."  
"That's true," Garnet said, somewhat deep in thought. "I think all the roadblocks where we could not see the action have been done by Biran, actually."  
"Wait, you can tell them apart?" Watts joked.  
"They speak in third person. If you hear it enough, you know them."  
"I can imagine."

"Got it!" Zone and Brahne both shouted at the same time. They glared at each other, then both leapt up and ran to the three women. Zone, however, fell ill to his stomach at the idea of racing Brahne for a pair of absurdly sharp scissors, and fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. Brahne gave her hair to the women and cut through it. She was handed her clue and quickly stormed out of the room to get back to her partner. Zone, finally, stood back up and approached the ladies with his hair labeled as "Watts." He took the scissors and cut the hair, then took his clue. He raced out the door and, within seconds, was already past Brahne, who had already slowed to a walk to catch her breath.

"They're landing," Zell said to Ma. He was behind the wheel, following closely behind Fran and Balthier, while Ma was beside him making sure they were on the correct route to Radiant Garden.  
"This should be Radiant Garden," she added. "Follow them."  
Balthier landed his gummi ship and started to open his door, when he noticed Zell landing directly beside them. "It'll be a footrace," he told Fran.  
Once Zell landed completely, all four raced out of their seats and headed for the gorge. It was not difficult to figure out the path, since one side of the town was completely blocked off, leaving only the one possible direction for the gorge. Both teams raced through the town and through the cliffsides, where Ma finally started to show her age and lose speed. Balthier and Fran took a bit of a lead as Zell hiked Ma onto his shoulders and ran with her, though he started to show severe fatigue as well. He finally put Ma down by one of the cliffs and they walked together toward the Pit Stop, which they could see from their location. They watched Fran and Balthier step onto the Pit Stop mat in the distance.  
"Fran and Balthier," Gippal said, "you're team number two!"  
"Thank you, Gippal," Balthier said as he hugged Fran. "Certainly glad we had some competition on this run to the Pit Stop as well. Running is always good for shaving a couple minutes off of our potential time."  
"So you two sure made quick work of this leg," Gippal said. "You even stopped to attempt a Fast Forward."  
"Well, luckily, we talked ourselves out of it quickly. Even if we would've been able to finish it, it would have taken time. It's better we save our Fast Forward for later in the competition anyway."  
"Probably a smart move. So you two seem unstoppable now-"  
"Don't say such things," Fran interjected. "The unstoppable team before was Reno and Rude. The Turks. But one thing to not underestimate this season is the group. Together, lesser teams could bring down a powerful one. And we are now without the ability to use a delay, and we are possibly the largest target."  
"I see. Well, congratulations, you two. I see two of your opponents now, so if you wouldn't mind..."  
"Not at all." Balthier led Fran from the mat as Zell and Ma jogged the rest of the way to the mat and hopped on.  
"Ma and Zell," Gippal said, "you're team number three!"  
"Thanks, Gip," Zell replied. "You know, one of these days, we're gonna beat those two."  
"You have before, haven't you?"  
"Well, yeah, but I mean consistently. And when it counts. Like at the end."  
"I wish you both the best of luck in doing so."  
"Thank you," Ma said.

Yenke and Barthello continued to search the piles of hair. Finally, Yenke stood up and dusted his arms off from all the hair that had clung to him, then switched over to search through the bright yellow hairs that closely resembled Biran's hair/mane. As he started searching through the hairs, Barthello jumped up and down and smiled as he held Dona's hair in his hands. The hair, suddenly, slipped out of his fingers and floated down to the ground as Barthello watched in fear. Luckily, his eyes never left the hair, so he grabbed it from the floor along with only two other hairs and quickly sorted through them to get Dona's. He took it to the three women and handed the hair to them. He quickly cut it and took his clue, then raced out the door.

Zone made his way through the gate to return to Watts, whom he found sitting beside Garnet. Both were chatting and smiling. "Watts!" Zone shouted at his partner, who hadn't even noticed his return.  
"OH!" Watts jumped to his feet. He turned to Garnet and quickly said, "Nice talking to you- gotta go- bye!" He joined Zone in reading the clue. "Make your way to the Pit Stop at Radiant Garden. Warning, the last team to check in may be eliminated."  
Watts jumped into the driver's seat and flew them toward what he hoped was Radiant Garden, based on the map Zone found in the glove compartment.

"Yenke has found!" Yenke shouted. He held the hair high in the air and ran to the three women. He presented the hair to them, but before cutting it, they handed it back to him. "This is your hair," the blue one said.  
"Oh... Oh! Yenke is sorry, Yenke hand you wrong one!" He handed them the hair that was in his other hand, which belonged to Biran. The ladies took it and gave him the scissors to cut it, which he quickly did...after two attempts. "Human-made scissors no doubt," he said. "Ronso scissors much stronger." He took the clue and raced out the door to return to Biran.

"Dona!" Barthello shouted as he returned to the start of the roadblock.  
"Get in the ship, Barthello!" Dona demanded.  
"But-"  
"We're leaving, trust me."  
Barthello entered the ship and handed the clue to Dona. He already started to fly the ship to Radiant Garden based on Dona's command as she read the clue to the camera instead of Barthello. "Make your way to the Pit Stop at Radiant Garden. Warning, last team blah blah blah."  
"How did you know we were going here?" Barthello asked.  
"A _lot_ of teams insisted on reading their clues where it was 'private.' Apparently they didn't notice me sitting in the ship the whole time, right by them."  
"That was very smart of you, Dona!"  
"Don't even start. I just didn't want to speak with anybody. They were _so_ talkative out there. It was disgusting."

Zone and Watts landed at Radiant Garden and raced for the Pit Stop. They reached the gorge and ran out into the vast emptiness to jump onto the mat.  
"Zone and Watts," Gippal said, "you're team number four!"  
"Yes!" Watts and Zone shouted, high-fiving each other.  
"You're back to the middle, I see," Gippal noted.  
"Yeah, well, sort of middle. A bit more to the back than we'd like," Zone said.  
"Besides, our middle strategy is still blown, so now we're racing for the best position we can get. We're just going to hope it isn't only fourth place in the future."

Garnet and Biran stood side-by-side as they waited to see which of their partners would emerge. Garnet held her breath as she heard footsteps approaching. Finally, Brahne came through the gate with her clue in her hands.  
"It was so hard, dearie!" Brahne said. "But stop talking, we have to _go_!"  
Garnet smiled as Brahne read the clue, then both jumped into the gummi ship and headed toward Radiant Garden.

"Hornless Yenke is worthless Ronso!" Biran yelled as Yenke came through the gate. He took the clue and read it with Yenke, then, the two Ronso jumped into their gummi ship and headed for Radiant Garden as well.

Dona and Barthello reached Radiant Garden and were soon in the gorge with Gippal and Leon.  
"Dona and Barthello," Gippal said, "you're team number five!"  
"Yes!" Barthello shouted. His shout echoed in the gorge, which made Gippal a bit uneasy, but not as uneasy as Dona was when Barthello picked her up for a giant bearhug and kiss.  
"Oh my," Gippal said. He looked to Leon, who shrugged. Barthello finally put her down and faced Gippal again. Dona seemed a bit weak in the knees as she held onto Barthello's arm. "If that's just the reward for a fifth place, then I'd _love_ to see what you have planned if you win the million."  
"Me too," Dona replied with a wink to Barthello.

Brahne landed the gummi ship at Radiant Garden and jumped out of the ship. She and Garnet looked around the town for where to go, but both were unsure. Finally, they found the only direction that was not a dead end and followed it through the town.

Biran and Yenke landed at Radiant Garden only moments later, though they also had difficulty navigating the town. Biran ran to a store clerk and shouted at him. "Quick! Where did hornless summoner and her mother go!?"  
"I'm sorry?" he asked.  
"Two women! No horns! What direction! Hurry!"  
"I'm sorry, you need to be more specific. There are many women here with no horns and-"  
"Large blue woman!" Yenke piped in.  
"Oh. That way," the clerk pointed in the direction that Garnet and Brahne had gone. The Ronso quickly ran in the specified direction and found the cliffs leading to the gorge. They looked down to the Pit Stop mat, where Gippal and Leon waited for the next team to check in.  
"We jump?" Yenke asked Biran. They continued to follow the path while they considered jumping down the cliffs.  
"Maybe," Biran said. "But Biran could hurt self and not race anymore!"  
"Then Ronso just run!"  
They followed a path, which started to finally head down toward the gorge. At the base of the slope was Garnet and Brahne, the latter of which was moving very slowly and was sweating profusely.  
"They're behind us, Mother!" Garnet shouted.  
Brahne looked over her shoulder and gasped. She tried to increase her speed, but unfortunately, it was still not much more than a walk. Garnet even tried to help by pulling her by the arm, but it was only throwing her off balance. The Ronso also were starting to sweat as they ran down the slope and eventually ran around Brahne and Garnet toward the Pit Stop in the middle of the gorge. They reached the mat, but Biran stopped Yenke from stepping on.  
"Wait. If this leg not eliminate us, Ronso could get back on feet faster than hornless summoner and large mother. We could help them again."  
"Yenke not sure. It very risky."  
Biran looked over his shoulder at Garnet and Brahne, who had now started to jog. "No, Ronso cannot take risk." Biran stepped onto the mat and was quickly joined by Yenke.  
"Biran and Yenke," Gippal said, "you're team number six!"  
"Ronso know," Biran replied. "Biran and Yenke checked in now, right?"  
"You are."  
Biran nudged his head in the direction of Brahne and Garnet, then, they both ran to Brahne's aid and each ducked under an arm and helped her walk to the mat. Garnet walked just in front of them, a bit confused by what was going on.  
They released Brahne once she was finally on the mat, then started to walk away.  
"Not sure if that's entirely legal..." Gippal said. "Whatever. Thanks, boys." He turned his attention to the ladies on the mat. "Brahne and Garnet," Gippal said, "you're the last team to arrive."  
"We know," Garnet said.  
"I am...sorry to tell you that you have been eliminated from the race."  
"We assumed as much," Garnet said, but when she heard her mother weeping beside her, she revised her statement. "Err, I assumed as much anyway."  
"We- tried- so- hard- Gippal!" Brahne said between sobs.  
"You really did. If not for the Shinra victory last season, I really would've said you stood no chance. And this season, you really tried to prove me wrong." He looked to Garnet. "Are you proud of her?"  
"Very much," Garnet replied. A tear ran down her cheek. "It was very nice to finally connect with my mother. We've had a rocky past, but she is a very special woman of several talents. Running just isn't one of them." She smiled at Gippal.  
"What about you?" he asked Brahne. "You proud of your daughter?"  
"Yes," Brahne choked out. She was still bawling her eyes out. "She's- my- favorite- daugh- ter."  
"Isn't she your only daughter?" Gippal asked. He and Garnet both seemed highly confused.  
"Yes. But if she weren't- she would be!"  
"I guess that's... good." He turned his attention to Garnet. "Well I'm sorry it had to end here, you two."  
"It's okay. I am eager to return home, anyway. I miss my friends there."  
After a few more incomprehensible words from Brahne, Garnet and Brahne slowly walked away from the Pit Stop mat.


	19. Episode 7, Part 1

Gippal stood on a small ledge in a cliffside and walked down into a gorge while he spoke to the camera. "This is the Dark Depths in Radiant Garden. An epic war hit this spot in the _Kingdom Hearts 2_ verse, but the only action it has seen since then was the results of the sixth leg of a race around worlds. Teams departed from a mansion in Twilight Town and made their way to Sunset Hill by train, where teams had to each find a unique wonder in the area. Sky pirates Fran and Balthier took an early lead when they learned the Spooky Steps wonder, but fell behind when they attempted the first Fast Forward of the race, then abandoned it. Sisters Reina and Faris were the only team that had enough drive to eat the disgusting Sea Salt Popsicles, pushing them to their second win. Meanwhile, teams chose between a physical detour and another that changed them physically, though only while in water. We saw competitors turn into several forms of sea animals before heading to the race-changing Roadblock searching for hairs, though it was the long hike to the hair search that caused Brahne and Garnet to fall horribly behind. It was a close race to the finish and Ronsos Biran and Yenke barely pulled ahead of the mother and daughter at the end, leaving Brahne and Garnet as the sixth team eliminated. Now, will Reina and Faris continue their domination and pull off a third victory? Will the Ronso be able to cope with the loss of their semi-allies? And what will happen to Dona and Barthello, who had a secret alliance with Brahne and Garnet? Reina and Faris, who were first to arrive at 11:04 am, will depart at 11:04 pm."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 1st to Depart: 11:04 pm]  
"Ready, sis?" Faris asked. She held the clue tightly and ripped the top off to pull out the clue. She held it up to the light from Reina's flashlight and read the clue aloud. "Make yer way ter the computer system of Radiant Garden and follow the directions given by the computer."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must make their way to a computer system in the city. Once there, they will put on protective gear that will teleport them inside the system to a mysterious location."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"You have 100 fol fer this leg of the race," Faris continued reading.  
"Yep, one-hundred...things. Let's go!" Reina said happily after counting the money. She and Faris searched through the dark gorge for an exit, but the surrounding area only had a few lights near the Pit Start mat. Add that to their flashlights, and they were in a very dark area.  
"We be losin' our lead," Faris said.  
"Yeah, but we'll find it!"  
They continued to search the walls around them when Faris finally called out to Reina. "I found 'er!"  
"Great!" Reina pointed her flashlight in Faris's direction until the light finally fell on her and the slope that would take them out of the gorge. They both walked up the slope, making sure to keep a light on the ground to avoid falling. Once at the top of the gorge, there was a dimly-lit path. It was just enough to make the journey back to Radiant Garden a safe one.  
On the edge of the city was a large area that was under construction. Several yellow steampipes stuck out of the ground and walls and a giant object that looked similar to a grandfather clock was built into the nearby wall. Faris and Reina walked down a manmade path to a large open area, which was lit by floodlights. One of the lights illuminated a red-and-yellow sign labeled as "computer" with an arrow pointing them down a different path. Faris and Reina followed the arrow to a corridor.  
They followed the corridor to a room with a giant computer system inside. Reina walked up to the computer while Faris looked around the room for anything they might need besides the main computer system. All she found were a couple electronics in the upper corners of the room that looked like security cameras.  
"It says for Amazing Racers to push this big red button," Reina said, pointing to a large, red button in the middle of the keyboard.  
"Enough waitin' around then," Faris said. She slammed her hand down on the button and a large computerized face appeared. The face was cylindrical with no definite ending to the top of the head, though the bottom came to a point where a chin would be.  
"Your next clue is a digital clue," the computer said. "I will now teleport you to Gemity City. You must search for a clue box near the computer when you arrive. Cease transmission."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams will now be teleported by the Master Control Program to Gemity City. This futuristic city lies in the _Star Ocean 3_ verse. Once there, teams will find their next clue."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
The large head disappeared from the screen, leaving Reina and Faris in a state of confusion.  
"Teleport?" Reina asked. "Like back at that temple earlier. So we should be walking through some gateway or something?"  
The two security camera-like objects suddenly shot blue lasers at the two girls. Strange, transparent blocks with a dotted blue outline appeared around their bodies and more blocks appeared around their extremities until they were completely covered by the invisible blocks. The blocks shrank into nothingness in the blink of an eye, with Reina and Faris disappearing as well.  
The two girls appeared in a room with a large computer beside a clue box. A woman sat in front of the computer and greeted them as they arrived.  
"Welcome to Gemity City," she said.  
"Thank you!" Reina said. She moved to the clue box and took the next clue, while Faris patted herself down to make sure she still had all her parts. Reina ripped open the clue and read it to Faris. "Detour: Buy Win or Buy Perfecta."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In both Detours, teams must participate by placing bets on Bunny Races. Four bunnies race around a track and you must pick the winner. In Buy Win, teams bet on the winner of the race. That is, they bet on which bunny they believe will win. In Buy Perfecta, teams bet on the top two bunnies in the race, meaning first and second place (though order is not important). Teams must win at Buy Win a total of three times in order to get their next clue. It is the safer bet, but still could take some time, since the bunnies are really slow. On the other hand, teams must win Buy Perfecta only once. It requires more luck, but if a team is feeling lucky, it could push them ahead."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"This be yer thing," Faris said to Reina, who was jumping for joy.  
"BUNNIES!" Reina shouted. She grabbed the clue and started running through the room to find the exit. After a long search, she stopped and looked to Faris. "Where is the exit?"  
"Oh, the teleporter behind you," the woman at the computer said. She pointed to a cylindrical device in the corner that was glowing a beautiful blue color inside. Faris and Reina stepped inside and the device closed its door, which was only a couple bars. A blue light spun around them and within less than a second, they disappeared and reappeared in a bright city. The floors glowed with neon beams and the general environment seemed fairly regular aside from that. There were a few teleporters around, but there was also a large, stone fountain and a few buildings that appeared to be normal cottages.  
"I don' like teleportin'," Faris said. She pointed to a sign that led the way to the Bunny Racetrack. They entered a large building into a long hallway ending in a betting counter. People were inside placing bets with the main registratrar, while an area in the corner was set aside for _Amazing Final Fantasy Race_ bets. Faris and Reina approached the betting lady.  
"Win? Or perfecta?" the woman asked.  
"Perfecta!" Reina said. The woman showed her a large picture with each of the four bunnies making up the four corners of the page. They were very round bunnies; basically, a ball with big rear feet and long floopy ears. One was pink, one blue, one green, and one yellow.  
Reina seemed deep in thought about the bunnies, while Faris pulled the cameraman to the side and whispered, "She's jus' gonna pick the cutest ones. Me money be on the pink, fer sure."  
"The pink one and the yellow one!" Reina finally told the woman.  
"Thank you," the woman said. She placed a marker reading "Reina & Faris" on the pink bunny, then a second marker on the yellow bunny. "You may go inside and watch the race if you wish."  
Reina jumped at the oportunity, while Faris simply shrugged and followed her. There was a large, brightly colored racetrack with the four bunnies each in their own lanes. They were preparing to race, which Reina found absolutely adorable. A light shined and a horn sounded and the four bunnies started hopping around the track...slowly.  
"This is gonna be a long day," Faris moaned.  
After a grueling five or six minutes, the bunnies were finally in line for the finish. Reina seemed very excited to see the result, but Faris was already leaving the room, since while the pink bunny was fighting for first, the yellow bunny was obviously dead last. To add insult to injury, the pink bunny only placed second.  
"Want ter switch ter Win bets?" Faris asked Reina.  
"Please, just one more!" she said. Faris rolled her eyes, but agreed. Reina once again bet Perfecta on pink and yellow. Another match passed, this time with the pink one placing first, but yellow lagging in the third position. Reina looked to Faris and held up her index finger. "One more?"  
"Nay," Faris said, shaking her head. "We can't be losin' our lead like this. Let's switch to Win bets, and lemme have a crack at it."  
"Sure!" Reina said. Faris placed a bet on the blue bunny to Win as the girls sat back to watch the race. The bunnies raced again, only this time, Faris was sitting on the edge of her seat as the blue bunny broke out into the lead in the finishing stretch. The yellow bunny started to gain on it, but the blue one maintained the lead and won the match. Faris jumped out of her seat and looked to high-five Reina, but she was currently being held back from the bunnies by security.  
"I just want to hug it!" she whined to security, but Faris finally pulled her away and they headed back to the betting booth.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, 2nd to Depart: 12:47 am]  
Balthier took a deep breath, then exhaled boisterously. "Ah, a good day to start a race."  
"It's night," Fran corrected.  
"Either way..." Balthier ripped open the clue and read it to Fran. "Make your way to the computer system of Radiant Garden and follow the directions given by the computer." He hoisted up his pack and began the search with Fran for the computer system.

-{Fran & Balthier: Interview}-

Fran and Balthier sat in a corner of the dark gorge near their rolled out sleeping bags.  
"We're in a bit of a dilemma now," Balthier told the camera. "On the one hand, we are excited to see the two women gone. On the other, we never viewed them as much competition and would rather they stick along. It was always our plan to keep them here, though their departure is merely a boost for pride. The teams remaining are all wild cards. And to be quite honest, I'm curious how those Ronso fellows will fare now. Without Garnet to tease, they may actually become decent competitors."  
"We are now hoping to eliminate Ma and Zell," Fran added. "They make mistakes, but can be very good racers when they do not."

-{End Interview}-

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 1 Win at Detour]  
Faris and Reina watched their chosen pink bunny race around the track. Both cheered it on wildly, though as the race neared the end, they realized it was all in vain. Their bunny placed last.  
"Aww, that was a foul!" Reina shouted at the bunnies. "That green bunny should be kicked out, as should blue and yellow! All that bumping and and and...stuff!"  
"Methinks yeh should wait in the lobby, sister," Faris suggested.  
Reina, oddly enough, agreed. "Tell me how we do, I'll grab a water while we wait. And afterwards, it's my turn to bet again!"  
"I can't wait..."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 3rd to Depart: 12:49 am]  
Ma ripped open the clue and read it to a very sleepy-looking Zell. "Make your way to the computer system of Radiant Garden and follow the directions given by the computer."  
"I hope we get to rest soon," Zell said. "I couldn't sleep at all. It was so bright all day!"  
"We don't want to lose our lead, though."  
"Yeah, I guess not. Let's go, Ma."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 1 Win at Detour]  
Reina returned to Faris, who shook her head. "We lost," Faris said. "We got another bet comin' up soon on yer pink one."  
"Yay!" Reina smiled. The two watched the match, where the pink bunny failed to get above the third position. They returned to the booth, and this time, Faris put a bet on the green bunny. The race began and, luckily enough, the green bunny came in first, giving them their second Win.  
"Only one more win!" Reina said excitedly. "I think pink!"  
"I figured as much..."  
They returned to the betting and placed a bet on the pink bunny. It raced around the track with the other three bunnies, only to come in second place. Faris took her turn next and placed a bet on the green bunny again.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Fran and Balthier made their way through the construction site and found the computer to teleport them to the next world. Fran pressed the large button and listened to the computer as it told them their next clue.  
"I will now teleport you to Gemity City. You must search for a clue box near the computer when you arrive. Cease transmission."  
"More teleportation," Balthier said. "And I was hoping for another chance to pilot that gummi ship."  
"We do have an advantage in the air," Fran added. The invisible boxes formed around their bodies, then teleported them to Gemity City, where Fran grabbed their next clue and read it. "Detour: Buy Win or Buy Perfecta."  
"I suppose Buy Win is the better option, but what say we gamble a bit?"  
"Perhaps a couple of races, but no more than that," she replied. Balthier agreed and stepped on the teleporter with her.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, 4th to Depart: 12:59 am]  
Zone opened his clue and read it to Watts. Both yawned, then lifted up their packs and searched for a way out of the gorge.

[Reina & Faris: 2 Wins at Detour]  
"Go Green!" Faris shouted at the bunny as it rounded the last corner, only to be overtaken by the yellow bunny at the last second. "Noooooo! Curse you, rabbit!"  
Faris and Reina again returned to the lobby to place their bets. Seeing how it was Reina's turn, the bet was, of course, placed on the pink bunny. While waiting in the lobby, they were startled to see Fran and Balthier enter the detour area and approach the counter. But just as they reached the counter, the horn sounded for the bunnies to start the next race.  
"Yes!" Faris shouted. "They be too late!"  
"Come on, Pink!" Reina shouted as well as they both ran to watch the race.  
"What a strange bunch," Balthier noted. "Well, Fran, shall we watch the match?"  
"Very well, but for every Viera comment you make during these races, you lose a body part," she replied.  
"I'm hurt you would imply I would do such a thing...but the comment is duly noted."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Ma pushed the button on the computer, which teleported them to Gemity City, where Zell pulled the clue out of the clue box. "Detour: Buy Win or Buy Perfecta."  
"Let's risk it, Zelly!" Ma said. "Let's do Perfecta!"  
"Just what I was thinkin', Ma!" he replied. They walked to the next teleporter and were whisked away to the main part of the city. They searched the town quickly, but both managed to walk right past the sign pointing the way to the bunny races.

[Reina & Faris: 2 Wins at Detour]  
"Go Pink!" Reina shouted at the pink bunny as it took the lead over the blue one.  
"Go Pink!" Faris joined in. Both sisters started chanting "Go Pink" as the pink bunny kept its lead over the blue one and managed to place first.  
"YES!" Both girls shouted. They raced back to the lobby, where the woman handing out bets handed them their next clue with a word of congratulations.  
"Thank you so much!" Reina said happily. She opened the clue and read it to Faris. "Teleport to Elicoor II's Aire Hills."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel back to the teleportation room and speak to the woman behind the chair. She will teleport them to the simulated planet Elicoor II in the Aire Hills region. Once there, a clue box will be waiting for them."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Let's go," Reina said. She and Faris left the building and nearly ran right into Zell and Ma, who had just found the bunny tracks.  
"Which one is good?" Ma shouted to them as they walked by.  
"The pink one!" Reina said.  
"Not the pink one!" Faris said at the same time.  
"I'm confused," Zell said. He and Ma walked up to the counter and stood in line behind Fran and Balthier, who were currently placing their perfecta bet on the green and yellow bunnies.  
"Should we copy?" Zell whispered quietly to Ma.  
"No," she replied. "First off, they'd beat me in a footrace, so we need to just get lucky to beat these two. Secondly, Fran can hear you right now. Probably better than I can."  
"It's highly likely," Fran said to them as she and Balthier walked to the racetrack.  
Ma smiled as she and Zell approached the counter. "I like the pink bunny, so one of our Perfecta bet will be the pink one. Which do you like, Zelly?"  
"The blue one!" he said. The woman put their markers on the blue and pink bunnies, then gestured for them to head inside to the track.  
The race began and so did Zell. He began shouting like a madman to cheer on the blue and pink bunnies. Ma screamed a lot, too, which caused Balthier and Fran to stand up and walk to another section of the track to watch the race.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place]  
"A computer world sounds scary," Zone said to Watts as they approached the computer in Radiant Garden.  
Watts nodded, then pushed the button on the computer. The computer gave them their next clue, then teleported them away.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris entered the teleportation room and showed the woman at the computer their clue. "We need to go to Elicoor II's Aire Hills," Reina told her.  
"Excellent, just give me one moment. The teleporter is busy at the moment," she told them.  
Suddenly, a bright, purple square with a white outline appeared on the ground. Reina and Faris stepped back, then, suddenly, Zone and Watts appeared and the purple square faded.  
"Whoa, is that what we looked like when we teleported in?" Reina said. "That's neat." She looked over to Zone and Watts and waved. "Hi, guys!"  
"Hi," Watts waved. Zone was too busy trembling on the floor. "You coming or going?"  
"Goin'," Faris informed him.  
"Drat, we were hoping we caught up to you."  
"Just remember to bet 'Win,'" Reina said. She and Faris switched places with Zone and Watts. Zone finally stood up and took their clue from the clue box.  
"Detour: Buy Win or Buy Perfecta. We trust Reina, so we'll do Buy Win," Zone said. He and Watts moved to the city's teleporter. The blue light swirled around them and took them to the city.  
"Ready?" the woman asked Reina and Faris, who stood on the purple square, which had appeared only second ago.  
"Ready," the sisters said together.  
The woman pushed the button and after a bright flash of light, Reina and Faris found themselves in a dirt field. A section of lighter-colored dirt formed a path that rounded some of the dirt hills and rocks, but the sisters found their next clue box just slightly to their right. There was a small light that barely illuminated the clue box. Even with the light, the girls had difficulty seeing much of anything at 1:20 am.  
Reina pulled out the clue and read it aloud. "Make your way to the Kirlsa Caverns to the west."  
Faris pulled out a compass and pointed her flashlight at it. She pointed to the left, then began walking with Reina in the direction indicated.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to the Kirlsa Caverns located to the west of Aire Hills. They will have to pass through the town of Kirlsa in order to do so. Their next clue box is located at the entrance to the caverns."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, 5th to Depart: 1:28 am]  
Dona opened the clue and read it to Barthello, who held both backpacks. "Make your way to the computer system of Radiant Garden and follow the directions given by the computer. Psh, machina again. When _will_ they learn..."  
Dona and Barthello searched the gorge for an exit and soon proceeded up the slope to the path above.

"We got one-half," Zell said to Ma. "Does that count for anything?"  
Ma shook her head. "Well, I'm going to bet on the pink one again. I have a feeling about that bunny."  
"I'll stay blue, too. Maybe if we keep betting on the same ones we'll eventually win!"  
"'Fraid it doesn't work that way," Balthier told them. He spoke to the receptionist. "We'll try Perfecta again. This time, green and blue."  
She marked their bunnies. Zell and Ma approached and bet on pink and blue again, then took their seats in the race area as Zone and Watts entered the room and approached the counter.  
"Win bet on what, blue?" Watts asked Zone. "I think it's both our favorite colors..."  
"I'm okay with blue," he replied. "Tell the lady, please."  
"Win bet on blue," Watts said to the receptionist. She put a "Zone & Watts" marker on the blue bunny and gestured for them to enter the racetrack viewing area.  
"This should be fun," Zone said to Watts. "I think bunnies are one of the few things I'm _not_ afraid of."  
"Wait till you see _these_ bunnies."  
"Wh- wait, what's wrong with these bunnies?"  
"Nothing."  
"Nothing? No, there has to be something wrong! What is it? Do they eat human flesh? Do they have giant claws? What?"  
"Nothing."  
"Don't play with my mind like that!" Zone shouted. He started to hunch up until he saw the four bunnies take their places on the starting line. "Hey! They're adorable!" He punched Watts in the arm. "Jerk."

Five minutes later, another punch to the arm was delivered, this time Fran punching Balthier. "What was all that talk about 'it doesn't work that way?'"  
"So our previous bet won," he replied as they got in line for betting behind Zell and Ma. "I stand by my statement. It doesn't work that way. It's all luck."  
"We are done with luck. We will do Win bets from now on."  
Ma and Zell continued to place their bets on blue and pink, Zone and Watts took blue to win, and Balthier and Fran decided to bet on yellow to win.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Last to Depart: 1:35 am]  
"We race this leg for hornless summoner," Yenke said before ripping open the clue. "Make way to computer in Radiant Garden and let hornless computer tell you where to go next."  
Biran laughed. "Yenke true comedian. Best hornless jokes I heard in five hour."

"The blue one won!" Watts shouted, hugging Zone around the neck. "Okay, what color do we bet on next?"  
"Blue?" Zone asked.  
"Good idea. Stick with one color! We'll just keep betting blue!"

"So close again!" Zell said. "I think Faris was right about not betting on pink..."  
"We can't quit now, Zelly," Ma said. She walked up to the receptionist and put another bet down on blue and pink. Her bet was followed by another blue bet from Zone and another yellow bet from Fran.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 5th Place]  
Dona and Barthello teleported into Gemity City and grabbed their next clue. Barthello read it aloud. "Detour: Buy Win or Buy Perfecta."  
"Betting on animals," Dona moaned. " _Wonderful._ Let's just bet Perfecta and be _done_ with it."  
Barthello nodded. They headed through the second teleporter and entered the bunny races, where, currently, another race was in progress.

-{Dona & Barthello: Interview}-

Dona and Barthello sat inside the bunny racing building. Dona had her back to the camera while Barthello talked alone.  
"I was really happy to read this detour card. I... I love bunnies. Especially these ones. They're so cute and lovable!"  
" _Enough,_ Barthello," Dona said, still not facing the camera.  
"That is all."

-{End Interview}-

All three teams came back to the reception area, none smiling. All of their bets had lost. Dona and Barthello were first in line to talk to the receptionist.  
"Who just won?" Dona asked.  
"Green, then yellow," she said.  
"Perfecta on them, then," She moved from the counter and waved for her partner. "Come, Barthello."  
The other three teams placed the same bets down once again. They all walked into the racing area and sat near Dona and Barthello. All racers watched as the bunnies slowly hopped around the course.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place]  
The Ronso teleported into Gemity City and took their clue from the clue box. Biran read it. "Detour: Buy Win or Buy Perfecta?"  
"Ronso poor. Ronso cannot buy anything," Yenke said.  
"Biran thinks it means hornless ones let Ronso bet _without_ money."  
"Ohh, Biran is smart. Or wrong. But Yenke believes Biran is smart."  
The Ronso used the second teleporter and started walking toward the betting area. Biran was feeling his horn more often than normal.  
"Something wrong, Biran?" Yenke asked.  
"Biran's horn feels smaller... Biran thinks teleport device mixed up Biran and Yenke's horns!"  
Yenke started feeling his own horn, then feeling Biran's. "Yenke feels the same. OH, see!? Biran's horn is same because Biran's horn has defining dark spot! Horn-mole! Horn-mole still there on Biran's horn on Biran's head."  
Biran felt his horn a second time. He then touched Yenke's horn. "Yenke is right. Biran's horn _is_ still bigger than Yenke's."  
"Yenke feels strange touching other Ronso's horn. Especially in public."  
Both released the other's horn and looked around to see if anybody was watching. Then, they puffed out their chests and walked into the bunny racing area.

[Fran & Balthier: 0 Wins at Detour]  
[Ma & Zell: 0 Wins at Detour]  
[Zone & Watts: 1 Win at Detour]  
[Dona & Barthello: 0 Wins at Detour]  
[Biran & Yenke: 0 Wins at Detour]  
The four teams came back into the lobby. Balthier was smiling as the scoreboard announced a yellow bunny victory. They lined up with the Ronso in the back of the line, making Zone uncomfortable because of their stature. Fran put down a bet on green, Zell bet Perfecta on blue and pink again, Watts bet on blue, Dona bet Perfecta on green and yellow again, and Yenke bet Perfecta on blue and yellow.  
Everybody again followed Dona and Barthello to their seats. Somehow, Biran obtained popcorn, though nobody was entirely sure how. He offered to share, but nobody took the offer, fearing it might have been on the floor.  
The bunnies raced around the track, coming around the turns like a bunch of slow bunnies on a really long track. Biran got nervous when he saw yellow out front and spilled his popcorn on Dona. She did not take it well.  
"Biran is sorry," Biran said to her. He started reaching to remove the popcorn from her cleavage, but she slapped his hand away and glared at him.  
"Sorry doesn't get the _disgusting_ popcorn off me," Dona said.  
"That's why Biran was going to take popcorn off you, but hornless lady slapped Biran's hand."  
"That's _it_ ," Dona rose to her feet and squared off against Biran, though her head only came up to around his chest. "You _animals_ need to-"  
"Dona! Dona!" Barthello cried out. "We won! Yellow and green!"  
"We'll settle this later," she said to Biran. She joined Barthello in running for the lobby to get their next clue. Barthello thanked the receptionist while Dona opened the clue. "Teleport to Elicoor II's Aire Hills. Come, Barthello."  
Barthello was smiling happily as he left the bunny races with Dona. They proceeded back to the teleporters and teleported to the darkness of the Aire Hills.  
"Flashlight, Barthello," Dona ordered. He clicked his light on, but the light was very dim. Still, he handed this flashlight to Dona and pulled out his own flashlight. It didn't come on at all. "I need _light,_ Barthello."  
"We don't _have_ light, Dona," he explained. "I- Remember when somebody mentioned the concept of 'batteries' to us, but we did not fully understand? I- I think this is what batteries do. I think we should have bought more batteries."  
"So we _don't_ have light?"  
"No, we don't."  
Dona was silent for a while, then, suddenly, Barthello tensed up as he felt her cold fingers wrap around his right arm. "Turn that camera off!" she shouted. A faint "yeah, it's totally off, sure" from the cameraman was heard, then, "I'm afraid of the dark, Barthello," Dona whimpered. "Protect me, please."  
"I will always protect you," he replied strongly.  
"Thank you, Barthello..." She pulled a clue from the clue box and read it to Barthello. "Make your way to the Kirlsa Caverns to the west."  
"Are you ready?" Barthello asked.  
"Yes," she replied.


	20. Episode 7, Part 2

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"This is it!" Reina said, pointing her flashlight at a sign on a cavern entrance that read "Hours of Operation: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm."  
"Thar goes our lead," Faris said. "Wait, maybe we don't go in," she said, walking to a nearby clue box outside the caverns. She ripped it open and read it to Reina. "Make yer way inside the caverns -aww, drat- and search for yer next clue."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now -err, at around 8:00 am- search through the Kirlsa Caverns for a clue box within. It shouldn't be too hard to find, but then again, the Ronso are still in the race..."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Seems time fer some sleep," Faris said. She began rolling out her sleeping bag and sat on it. Reina rolled hers out right next to her sister's and joined her in lying down to get some rest before the caverns were open.

[Fran & Balthier: 1 Win at Detour]  
[Ma & Zell: 0 Wins at Detour]  
[Zone & Watts: 1 Win at Detour]  
[Biran & Yenke: 0 Wins at Detour]  
The four remaining teams placed their bets at the detour and waited for the results. Zone bet on blue once again, Fran placed a Win bet on green, Biran continued to bet his and Yenke's colors as Perfecta: blue and yellow, while Zell continued to stick with the blue and pink Perfecta.  
The four teams in all this hassle were actually beginning to enjoy each others' company, though since many were sleep-deprived, it was kind of like a group of drunks. Zell, Zone, Watts, Biran, and Yenke were the main offenders, as they were constantly cheering on the blue bunny and roughhousing. Ma watched in the distance and just hoped that playfulness like this was not a penalty.  
The first race ended with green in the lead, giving Fran and Balthier their second Win.  
"What now?" Balthier asked Fran.  
"Green again," she replied. "Play it safe."  
"We can be safer with another bet, actually," Balthier said. "All other teams have a bet on blue to win or at least come in second. If we bet on blue, we're guaranteed to leave before at _least_ Zone and Watts..."  
"We could possibly put them out of the competition." Fran pondered the proposal. "And they are the strongest competition remaining, aside from perhaps Ma and Zell or the sisters."  
"The last thing we need _now_ is a team like Biran and Yenke or Dona and Barthello going home. If we play it right, we can keep them around till the finals and have a guaranteed win. I mean, we're already guaranteed a win as the leading man and leading Viera, but a _more_ guaranteed win."  
"Fine, blue. Do not miss our betting opportunity."  
"Right." Balthier jumped into the line behind Biran. The other teams kept their normal bets while Balthier changed theirs to bet on blue.  
"Why blue now?" Ma asked him.  
"Well, to join in the fun!" Balthier replied, giving Biran a very light punch in the arm. "Err, right? Fun? Maybe not..."  
Biran stood tall and stared at Balthier for a long moment. Then, suddenly, he reached out and hugged Balthier tightly and lifted him into the air. "Biran has a new friend!"  
Yenke, Zell, Zone, and Watts all cheered and headed into the race area to root on the blue bunny.

Balthier endured the rowdy boys to cheer on the blue bunny, only to see it come in dead last.  
"New friend is bad luck!" Biran shouted. His group of new friends also began shouting at Balthier about the bad luck he brings. Balthier still stayed the course and continued to bet on the blue bunny.  
In the following race, Zell and Ma were on the edge of their seat as they watched the blue and pink bunnies battle for first place. They didn't care which bunny took which slot so long as blue and pink were numbers one and two. Biran and Yenke cheered for the last-place yellow bunny to hurry his hornless ass up, but it was in vain as the yellow bunny gave up and fell asleep on the tracks. The pink bunny barely edged out first place.  
"SCORE!" Zell shouted. He high-fived Ma and they quickly ran to the receptionist to get their next clue. "Teleport to Elicoor II's Aire Hills."  
"That was so much fun to watch!" Ma said.  
"I actually thought it was kind of boring..."  
"Oh, not the bunnies. They were boring. But you boys. You were so goofy in there! Sometimes, I feel like I missed out on watching you grow up, but then I just get reminded that you still haven't grown up, so I still have that chance."  
"Oh, knock it off, Ma."  
Ma and Zell made their way through Gemity City and found the teleportation room. They stood on the purple square and teleported away to Aire Hills.  
Zell found the clue box and pulled out their next clue. "Make your way to the Kirlsa Caverns to the west." He consulted his compass, then led Ma to the left.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 2nd Place]  
On their way to the caverns, Dona and Barthello came across the town of Kirlsa and found a supply store that was open all night. They walked inside and looked around at the wares. To avoid wasting too much time, Dona approached the counter and asked the man for batteries.  
"Batteries?" he replied. "As in, something to batter with? Perhaps a mini-battering ram? Is that what you mean?"  
"Oh don't tell me you don't have them," Dona moaned. " _Look,_ do you have anything that makes light in the dark?"  
"Sure. Fire. Need a torch?"  
Dona sighed. "Fine, give us a cheap torch."  
"Okay, that'll be seventy fol."  
"That's almost all of our money!" she argued. "I am _not_ giving up this money for a pathetic _torch._ "  
"Your choice. Bye!" the man said cheerfully before kicking them out of the store and locking his door.  
"What did I just _do?_ " Dona asked Barthello. "Now we'll be stuck in this darkness."  
"It's okay. I- I like being able to protect you again. It's been so long since I was your guardian."

[Fran & Balthier: 2 Wins at Detour]  
[Zone & Watts: 1 Win at Detour]  
[Biran & Yenke: 0 Wins at Detour]  
The bunnies continued to hop around a track, never getting tired of this wonderful life of hopping around a track all day. This time, the blue bunny came in first, though the yellow bunny remained in last place the whole time.  
Balthier and Fran took their clue from the receptionist and Zone and Watts placed their bet on the blue bunny to win once again, while Biran and Yenke continued to bet Perfecta on the blue and yellow ones.  
Fran ripped open the clue and read it. "Teleport to Elicoor II's Aire Hills." She and Balthier jogged through Gemity City and entered the teleportation room. They teleported to Aire Hills and found their next clue box waiting for them. Fran opened the clue and read it to Balthier before the pair headed to the left toward Kirlsa.

Dona and Barthello finally reached the Kirlsa Caverns and found the sisters attempting to sleep. Instead of causing the usual trouble, they decided to follow suit and rest, as well, though Dona first grabbed their next clue and read it quietly to Barthello. "Make your way inside the caverns and search for your next clue."  
Barthello nodded, then, they unfolded a large blanket and pulled it over themselves. Dona hogged the blanket, pulling it off one side of Barthello's massive body, but he did not complain.

[Zone & Watts: 2 Wins at Detour]  
[Biran & Yenke: 0 Wins at Detour]  
Biran, Yenke, Zone, and Watts continued to have fun at the bunny races, and this particular race was certainly eventful. The pink and green bunnies were way in back with no chance to catch up, while the yellow and blue bunnies were out in front, fighting for the lead. The Ronso were so pumped up that they each lifted one of the Forest Owls above their heads. Biran started pumping Zone up and down in the air while Yenke spun Watts in circles.  
"GO HORNLESS FLUFFBALLS!" Biran shouted.  
"Hurry up, Blue!" Zone shouted, despite the absolute dread he had in the pit of his stomach from the possibility of being dropped onto Biran's sharp horn.  
The yellow bunny was the first across the finish line while the blue placed second. The Ronso put Zone and Watts down and chest-bumped each other. They waved to Zone and Watts.  
"Good luck, hornless ones," Biran told them. "Ronso have lots of fun with worthless humans. Not want you get eliminated."  
"Thanks, guys," Watts said. "Good luck to you, too."  
The Ronso headed to the receptionist and grabbed their clue. Yenke read it aloud. "Teleport to Elicoor II's Aire Hills."  
"Biran knows where teleport room is!" Biran replied. "Hurry, Yenke!"  
They ran to the teleport room and used the purple teleporter. After the appeared on Aire Hills, they opened their clue and Biran read it. "Make way to Kirlsa Caverns to west." He and Yenke started jogging in the specified direction.

Zell and Ma reached Kirlsa as the sky began to gain a faint bit of light. Zell walked to a man on the street to ask for directions to the Kirlsa Caverns. The man pointed him north, so Zell and Ma followed his direction and headed north.  
By the time they reached the caverns, Faris and Reina were awake, as well as Dona and Barthello. The sun had come up and the two teams at the site seemed to be respecting the order of the two-team line they had formed. Zell and Ma stood behind Dona and Barthello as they waited for 8:00 am.  
As they waited, Ma suddenly perked up when she noticed the clue box in the corner. It was hard to notice behind the line of people that swept past it, so she politely snuck between Reina and Faris and grabbed her clue, then returned to Zell at the back of the line. "Make your way inside the caverns and search for your next clue."

Fran and Balthier jogged from Kirlsa to the Kirlsa Caverns and saw the line of teams waiting outside. Both smiled at each other as they started walking up, but quickly broke into a run when they noticed the teams finally starting to walk into the mines. It was a minute after 8:00 am, so the teams were entering in a single-file fashion. Though, once inside the cavern, the single-file changed into an all-out sprint for their next clue. Fran and Balthier raced to the cavern's entrance just in time to be immediately behind Ma and Zell as they pushed their way through to search for their next clue box.  
Reina spotted the clue box and shouted to Faris. Of course, this meant the other three teams noticed, as well, and all sprinted for the same box. Reina still reached it first and pulled the clue out of the box just before Zell and Barthello got to the box and started fighting over the clue both had managed to grab. Zell finally conceded and grabbed his own clue.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Roadblock: Who's ready to haul asses?" Reina read.  
"I believe it be my turn," Faris replied.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this roadblock, that team member must pilot a beast known as a hauler. These haulers are used to pull a cart along a broken mine cart track. There are five different types of haulers: steady, carefree, whimsical, ill-natured, and aggressive. Using one of these five haulers, the team member must take two soldiers, as well as their teammate, in a mine cart to be pulled by the hauler. Their teammate cannot help them with the task, though they are allowed to give advice. If any teammate is seen physically controlling the hauler, they will have to start over and must wait five minutes before trying again.  
"The original team member must drive one of the soldiers to a specified location and drop him off. Then, they must pilot the hauler to the end of the track. If at any point the mine cart becomes dislodged from the track, that person will have to start over, though if they have already dropped their soldier off, they will not have to redo the drop off. Once at the end of the track, both team members will get off and receive their next clue. The task is not physically demanding, but picking the right beast for the task can be difficult. The track comes with some strange twists and turns, so teams must be ready for anything."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Methinks you shoulda done it," Faris said. "But enough blubbering! Let's find a hauler!"  
"Right!" she replied. "Good luck!"

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"I'm a speedster, so I'll take it!" Zell said.  
"You think this old lady isn't ready to haul some- err, butt?" Ma replied. "It's my turn, so I think it should be me."  
"But Ma!"  
"No buts, Zelly," she replied sternly. "Think about it logically. We can't use you for too many roadblocks now or we'll be up poopy creek later."  
"Man, I should've raced with Rinoa," he whined. "She let Squall do all the roadblocks. Okay, Ma. You're up then. But I get the next one!"  
"We'll see," she replied, smiling.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 3rd Place]  
" _I'll_ do it," Dona said. "I've _never_ seen Barthello move quickly."  
"But Dona! It says 'haul.' Don't you think it could have something to do with lifting?" Barthello asked.  
"This is _not_ a discussion. I'm doing it."  
Barthello paused for a moment. "You're right. Good luck, Dona."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 4th Place]  
"My turn," Fran said.  
"So it is," Balthier replied.

The group of roadblockers rushed to the marked area to begin the roadblock. There was an instruction manual handed to each of the racers about how to properly handle a hauler. While they read, staff members prepared them and their teammates by equipping them with helmets. They were taken into a section of the mine with minecart tracks that led into a small doorway. The door was opened and inside, the hauler beasts wildly pushed and fought each other. Each was a different color. They looked like large, angry, six-legged turtles.  
"Which type of hauler would you like?" a staff member asked the roadblockers.  
Each of the roadblockers read their instruction manual except for Dona, who pointed to the "Aggressive" hauler on her paper. "I'm aggressive, so this should be easy," she said. "I'll take this one."  
"Oh...kay," he replied. One of the haulers came out of the room as the staff moved a minecart to a location behind the hauler and connected the cart to it with some chains and poles. It was like a horse and buggy, only the horse was an angry turtle and the buggy was a minecart.  
Dona entered the minecart and was handed a set of controls. They seemed easy enough: a button on the left to make the beast turn left, a button on the right to make it turn right, a button pointing forward to make it accelerate, and a button pointing backwards to make it decelerate. Two soldiers entered the minecart with her, followed by Barthello. With the full set of passengers, Dona was given the signal to leave the station.  
The hauler walked into the minecart corridor, which was not very wide. There was plenty of room between the narrow cave passages and the edges of the minecart, so nobody was at risk to lose limbs from sticking their arms out, but it was still generally claustrophobic. Dona's hauler increased its speed as it came around the first turn. And then, it increased even more. And more. Dona noticed the speedometer was showing her going about 40 km/h. Ahead in the track was a split where the tracks could either break off to the left or continue going straight.  
"If you want to turn, slow down to 25 km/h," the soldier said to Dona.  
"Fine," Dona said. She pushed the "left turn" button and held down the decelerate button to instruct her hauler to slow down and turn left. As the turn got nearer, the hauler did not slow down. By the time it reached the turn, it had raced past it and continued going around 35 km/h. The course circled a few times to the right and Dona noticed the hauler following a final left turn that led back to the beginning. The hauler stopped and the crew unattached the cart while Dona, Barthello, and the soldiers exited the cart.  
" _Fine,_ I'll read the manual," Dona said as Faris moved toward the hauler crew. They had formed a line with Faris in front, followed by Fran, then Ma. "Here it is," Dona pointed to the manual under the "Aggressive Hauler" section. She paraphrased the section to Barthello. "He tends to disobey commands and refuses to go slowly. _Wonderful_. I won'tbe using _him_ again."  
"You'll do better next time, Dona," he replied.  
"I'll be tryin' out the carefree," Faris said. "The directions say he only turns right, but I don't know which way be right anyway..."  
Faris loaded up her minecart with Reina and the two soldiers, then headed off on the carefree hauler. It accelerated slowly, but Faris was prepared for a slow ride on him. Reina looked over the edge of the cart at the hauler. She really enjoyed the beasts and often called them cute, though Faris and the rest of the world failed to see their cuteness. The hauler walked around the track, gradually gaining more speed. When it reached the possible left turn, it was under the specified maximum speed, but continued straight regardless, as Faris expected. She hadn't, however, expected that taking the first right resulted in her coming right back to the start.  
"Yar, he be a waste of a turn," Faris commented to herself as they left the hauler and lined up behind Dona.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 5th Place]  
Biran and Yenke reached the Kirlsa Caverns and found the clue box at the entrance. Biran opened it and read it to Yenke. "Make way inside caverns and search for next clue."  
"Sound easy to Yenke!" Yenke raced inside, closely followed by Biran. They entered the mine and found the next clue box easily because of a lot of noise coming from a section of the mine. They saw all the other teams in line, while Fran and Balthier were boarding a minecart pulled by a strange beast. Specifically, it was the "steady" hauler. Biran pointed at the clue box and forced Yenke to read the clue, since he was tired of doing it.  
"Roadblock: Who ready to haul asses?" Yenke read.  
"Biran thinks roadblock sound boring."  
"Boring! Boring! Bwa ha ha!" Yenke paused. "Oh, that mean Yenke has to do it." He read through the roadblock, then jumped in the line behind Faris.

Fran slowed her hauler down and made the left turn and sped back up. Not long later, she was forced to make another choice: left or right. She, again, chose left. Eventually, this led her back to the start, where she lined up behind Yenke.  
Ma took the cart and decided to try the "ill-natured" hauler, which tends to do the opposite of what you tell it. She argued that it might be the best choice for her, since she acted as a mother to a "disobedient teen." Zell whined at the notion as he boarded the minecart.

[Zone & Watts: 2 Wins]  
Zone and Watts watched three more races at the bunny racetrack, still without a win. It seemed like the blue bunny was never going to win again.  
"I think those other guys had all the luck, and they took it with them when they left," Zone whined.  
The race began again, this time with the blue bunny falling to the back of the pack really early on. It never looked like it would catch up. And it never did. Another bet on the blue bunny failed.

Ma's ride on the hauler went rather well. She had mastered the reverse psychology and was having no difficulty telling the hauler to turn left when she wanted it to turn right. After two turns, the soldier tapped Ma on the shoulder. "At the barrier, please slow down so I can exit."  
"Oh, certainly!" she replied. She told her hauler to accelerate, but the hauler did just that. Luckily, she corrected her mistake of thinking the hauler _always_ did the opposite of what she said in time for it to stop and let the man out. She started her hauler moving once again, when suddenly, the other soldier began telling her of a cave-in warning.  
"Should I speed up? Or slow down?" Ma asked him.  
"It's up to you," he replied. "It isn't life-threatening. It's part of the course. But if your hauler gets hit enough, we'll have to take him back to the beginning to heal him."  
"Speed up, Ma!" Zell encouraged her. She complied and jammed on the accelerate button. Some of the falling rocks hit the hauler and one even hit the minecart, though there were no injuries. Yet another switchpoint came up, so Ma signaled to take the turn to the right (which would turn her ill-natured hauler left), but she had sped up so much that it could not turn and instead took the right. Another switchpoint came up, but Ma was so lost that she just let the hauler do whichever direction it chose. It chose right, which led it right back to the station.

[Zone & Watts: 2 Wins]  
"Blue bunny won!" Zone and Watts shouted as the blue bunny crossed the finish line first. They quickly ran to the receptionist and took their clue. "Teleport to Elicoor II's Aire Hills," Zone read. "Back to the teleporting room!"  
"We badly need to make up some time," Watts replied. They raced to the teleportation room and teleported to Aire Hills, where they took their next clue. Watts read this time. "Make your way to the Kirlsa Caverns to the west." They consulted their compass, then headed west in search of the caverns.


	21. Episode 7, Part 3

Dona entered the minecart her second time, now being pulled by the steady hauler. She started out by pushing the acceleration button, but later started pounding on the acceleration since the steady hauler increases speed so slowly. She slowed down for the first turn and took it to the left. Then, seeing as how left worked well before, also took the second left. This turn led her to a junction that ended up taking her back to the start.

Faris took the next attempt on the steady hauler. She knew to take the first left turn, but then approached the second section and decided to ask the soldiers which way to go. Neither responded. "I'll try all rights unless I know rights be wrong." She took the path to the right and the soldier told her to slow down to let him out. She complied and barely came to a stop before reaching the barrier. She and Reina and the one remaining soldier then departed, when the soldier let her know of the cave-in up ahead. "We'd best speed up then, else we be trapped like rats!" Faris jammed on the acceleration, but due to the steady hauler's lack of acceleration, it landed them right under the cave-in. The hauler took a beating and soon stopped walking. The soldier took over the controls and led the hauler back to the station. He explained that it got hit too much and was unable to continue and Faris would have to try again later.  
When they reached the station, Faris was continuously apologizing to Reina, who seemed highly upset by the harm that had come to the hauler beast.  
"I be sorrier than a thousand sorries," Faris told her.  
"I know, you can stop apologizing," Reina said. "I just feel so bad for the hauler. I hope he's okay."  
"Aye, me too. Reminds me o' old Syldra... So misunderstood. Only helpin' people."

"It _Yenke's_ turn!" Yenke cheered. He told the soldier to bring him the "whimsical" hauler because he read that it "jumps far." He also read that it doesn't listen to orders, but didn't know what orders to give, anyway, so he stuck along for the ride. It found the first turn and made the correct turn to the left, then even made the correct turn to the right. The soldier asked Yenke to slow down to drop him off, but the beast would not listen to his order to slow down, so the cart went right past the soldier's drop-off point and blasted through the barrier. It made the next turn to the right, where it soon apporached a break in the tracks. The soldier told Yenke to speed up, which he did. The beast jumped the large gap, then came to a new set of track that led them back to the start. Yenke and Biran exited the minecart and high-fived from the awesomeness of jumping the tracks.

Fran's steady hauler set out on the path, taking the left turn, then the right. She reached the drop-off point and the soldier jumped out before Fran set out on the course again. She slowed her hauler for the cave-in and took a left, then accelerated for the jump. The hauler successfully jumped and Fran continued to navigate through the tunnels, but eventually circled right back to the start.

"Can _nobody_ do this?" Dona complained. "This is such a horrible race."  
"It's a memory game, Dona," Barthello explained. "We have to remember where we've been and go the correct direction."  
"But it's _boring,_ Barthello."  
"But we get to play with the cute haulers!" Reina said, joining the conversation uninvited.  
"I'm quite enjoying it, too," Ma said.  
"Well all of _you_ have already dropped off your soldiers," Dona replied.  
"I think the Ronso are enjoying it," Zell said. "And I don't think they'll _ever_ drop off their soldier!"  
"Ronso can drop off soldier!" Yenke said. "Biran and Yenke memorize route to soldier! Right then left!"  
"YENKE!" Biran shouted.  
"Oh, Yenke sorry."  
"Yenke so stupid. It _left,_ then _right_!"  
"Biran, we should not be telling hornless ones the location! Some have not found it!"  
"Just Dona hadn't," Zell said.  
"Just _what_ are you implying?" Dona replied. She stepped forward to get closer to Zell.  
"That you're a horrible racer!"  
"Zelly, don't," Ma urged him. She grabbed his wrist to pull him back, but he broke her grasp.  
"Like _you're_ any better? _You_ should've gone home a long time ago for not bringing your clue."  
"You were so desperate, you had to form an alliance with fat ol' Brahne!" Zell shouted.  
Zell and Dona continued to argue as Fran pulled into the station. Ma boarded the minecart and pulled Zell out of the argument. She picked the ill-natured hauler again and set off on the course. Zell sulked in a corner of the minecart while Ma navigated the course.  
"Gosh, she makes me so mad sometimes," Zell said. He started sparring the air.  
"Just ignore her, Zelly," Ma said as she made the first turn. "You can't let people get to you like this. It's what she wants."  
"Why? I don't get it!"  
"Because people make mistakes when they get flustered. Oh!" Ma quickly slammed on the left turn button to make the hauler go right. It barely made the turn. "See? You distracted me and I almost missed a turn."  
"Sorry, Ma." Zell sat down on the floor.  
"It's okay. Now don't sulk. Get up here and watch. There's a ramp coming up!"  
"Sweet!" Zell jumped to the front of the minecart and watched as Ma accelerated the cart to the necessary jumping speed. The hauler jumped and the minecart flew in the air behind it as Zell and Ma cheered wildly. It landed back on the tracks as Ma threw in instructions for an upcoming switchtrack. She navigated to a final area, where the hauler slowed down and stopped near an unfamiliar cave exit.  
"Is this it?" Ma asked the soldier.  
He exited the minecart and nodded. He lent Ma a hand and helped her off. Zell wiped down his hand to take the soldier's hand to get out of the cart, but the soldier had pulled it back already. Zell seemed disappointed until the soldier handed Ma the next clue.  
"Sweet!" Zell shouted. "That'll show Dona who can and can't race!"  
"That's right, Zelly!" Ma joined in the celebration. "But don't get cocky." She ripped open the clue and read it to Zell. "Travel on foot through the Bequerel Mountain path to the Pit Stop at Arias. Warning, the last team to check in may be eliminated."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now make their way through the Bequerel Mountains and find the city of Arias. The path is fairly straightforward as long as teams do not veer off to the Bequerel Mines. The last team to check in here...may be eliminated."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Oh _wow_!" Zell cheered. "We could win this, Ma!"  
"I hope we do! Let's hurry, Zelly!"  
Zell and Ma headed out of the cave to a very bland mountain. There was a lot of dirt and that was about it. A small section of the course had some fences up, but it was in the opposite direction, according to Ma. She insisted the bottom of the mountain was where they were going, so they followed the part of the mountain that sloped down in hopes that the bottom was in that direction.

The hauler came back empty, save for the soldier that drove the cart back, causing a great stir among the remaining racers. Dona showed no emotion by words, but her face and body language showed a lot of anger. She boarded the minecart with Barthello and the two soldiers, then used the steady hauler to search.  
"That puts the boy and his mum in first, then," Balthier said. "Bravo to them."  
"We can still win," Fran replied.  
"Now, now, that's only true if we don't jinx ourselves."  
"No, it is still true."  
"Perhaps."

Zone and Watts reached the Kirlsa Caverns and grabbed the clue from outside. Both were still yawning heavily as Watts read the clue to Zone. "Make your way inside the caverns and search for your next clue."  
They entered the caverns and searched around. Like the Ronso before them, they found the room fairly easily by just following the noise of people talking. Zone found the clue box. "Last clue in the box... Roadblock: who's ready to haul asses?"  
"Could go either way," Watts said. "What do you think?"  
"I'll try it," he replied, though he sounded nervous. As he read through the details with Watts, he seemed a lot less nervous. Then more still once he entered the room and saw the tracks, which reminded him of train tracks. "I think we can catch up here," Zone said quietly to Watts. "I _know_ we can! Trains are like, the only thing I'm not afraid of. And we have a manual to study. This is where intelligence will pay off!"  
"Don't speak too loudly, now," Balthier said to Zone. "Some of us might take exception to that."  
"People talking too much!" Biran shouted. "Yenke need concentrate!"  
"Left, right. Left, right. Left, right," Yenke repeated over and over.  
"Then again, some might not," Balthier muttered to Fran. She chuckled.  
Dona and her crew returned to the station on the hauler, though one of the soldiers was missing. "Great, _they're_ here now," Dona complained as she lined up behind Zone.

Faris picked the steady hauler and headed through the course. She reached the area where the soldier was dropped off, then further through the course to where they were last time. Faris had watched the man navigate them back, so she definitely knew the wrong way and instead went the opposite direction. There was one last switchpoint, so Faris chose to turn left, which was luckily the correct choice as the minecart pulled into the station at the other end of the caverns. The girls cheered as they exited the minecart and Faris was handed a clue.  
"Good job, sis!" Reina said while hugging Faris.  
"Err, thanks. Do yeh always hug when yer excited?" Faris asked.  
"If I've been around animals, then it's likely. Do you think Zone and Watts will catch up? I haven't even talked to them in a while..."  
"We c'n hope so, but right now, we got ter go! Lookit this!" Faris pointed to the opened clue. "Travel on foot through the Bequerel Mountain path to the Pit Stop at Arias. Warning, the last team to check in may be eliminated."  
"Yikes! Let's get a move-on!"

There was more excitement at the beginning of the minecart tracks as the cart came back empty. All except for the Ronso, who were too busy memorizing the first two turns of the race. Yenke rightly chose the steady hauler and boarded with Biran.  
"We'll have to watch them when they come back," Watts told Zone. "If they come back without their soldier, then it means their directions they've been chanting are correct. Copy them if they return without a soldier. Otherwise-"  
"I know," Zone said. "I've been paying attention."  
"Don't suppose your Viera powers will be able to hear which way these beasts are going," Balthier said to Fran.  
"I won't dignify that," she replied. "But I do know the first four turns, and don't suspect there are many beyond this."  
"Just as well, then. It's been too long since we've seen a victory."  
"Indeed. _Much_ too long."

Yenke returned without his soldier, making it Fran's turn in the hauler. By now, everybody had figured out that the steady hauler was the best choice. Even Zone, who had yet to even ride one. Fran guided her hauler through the path, choosing the first three switches in the order she had already learned were correct, then took a left at the fourth spot, since she knew the right turn to be false. This turned out to be the last switch, as she reached the end and disembarked with Balthier. She received her clue and read it to Balthier. "Travel on foot through the Bequerel Mountain path to the Pit Stop at Arias. Warning, the last team to check in may be eliminated."  
"Nicely done, Fran. Now let's catch those groups ahead of us, shall we?"

Ma and Zell found themselves at the bottom of a mountain near a town with large gates. It was a small, quaint town aside from the gates with a church-like building directly in the center. They entered the town and looked around at the small buildings and green foliage, when Zell, suddenly, reached out and tapped at Ma's arm. "There's a flag on the churchy building's door!"  
"Good eye!" she replied. They raced inside the building and followed an arrow pointing them to a large dining hall. At the other end of the room was Gippal. He stood beside a redheaded woman in black-leather armor. She had tattoos of strange writings and symbols across her legs and arms.  
"Welcome to Arias," the woman, Nel, said to Zell and Ma as they jumped on the mat.  
"Ma and Zell," Gippal said, "you're team number one!"  
"I KNEW IT!" Zell cheered. He lifted Ma into the air with a hug around the waist, then put her down. Gippal tried to explain their prize, but Zell was too busy dancing on the table. Once Ma finally got him to return to the mat, Gippal resumed his speech.  
"For winning this leg of the race, you've both received a two day vacation to Gemity City. Enjoy the games around the city, watch the bunny races, watch or even participate in a fighting tournament, or just relax in your hotel or in the quaint world of Elicoor II."  
"Thank you so much, Gippal," Ma said.  
"How do you feel about a win here? First time I've seen you two so early."  
"Feels great, man!" Zell said. "We're finally on the radar! A force to be reckoned with!"  
"I'm glad you're happy about that. Some teams seem to have a different strategy than yours."  
"Yeah, Zone and Watts. They're trying to lay low, but we don't mind being in everybody's faces. We've been waiting to win some prizes, you know?"  
"Not to mention the whole shebang!" Ma chimed in. "We don't plan to lose this lead, Gippal. Dinchts are winners!"  
"Yeah!"

Zone followed the course that Yenke and his big mouth had told the whole group and found the location to drop off the soldier. He continued beyond this point for one turn, but then the hauler began heading back to the beginning. He and Watts exited the minecart and let Dona on. The cycle was moving a tad faster since everybody was now using the steady hauler.  
"Thanks for the help," Zone said to Yenke. He looked at Biran. "You, too."  
"Yenke and Biran did not mean to help," Biran explained, "but are glad to have helped friends in blue bunny alliance."  
"Alliance?" Zone whispered to Watts. He shrugged. He turned back to Biran. "Well, good luck, fellas. May the best team win. Err, at least not get eliminated."  
"Hornless tummy-man say funny things," Yenke said.

Dona and Barthello finally reached the other side of the minetracks and received their clue. Dona read the Pit Stop clue to Barthello, then the pair hurried along the mountain path.

"Reina and Faris," Gippal said to the girls as they stepped on the mat, "you're team number two!"  
The girls cheered. "Too bad we lost the lead, but we're okay with it," Reina said.  
"It were those horrible bunnies. Too much luck fer my bones," Faris added.  
"Still, second isn't bad," Reina added with a smile.

Yenke directed the hauler along the mine path a second time, but failed to find the exit, though he was sure he was close. Zone hopped into the minecart and headed out on his second attempt.

"Fran and Balthier," Gippal said, "you're the third team to arrive."  
"Not the worst we've done," Balthier said.  
"However," Gippal paused as both Fran and Balthier's expressions turned from joy to fear,"you failed to retrieve a Route Info, and I cannot check you in until you retrieve it."  
"Beg pardon?" Fran asked.  
"A Route Info. You know, one of those boring clues that don't make you _do_ anything like a Roadblock, but-"  
"Yes, we know what they are," Balthier interrupted. "Thank you, Gippal. We'll return once we've found it."  
He gave a frightened glare to Fran, who returned the glare. Neither had any idea where to look, but raced out of the church, nonetheless, to find it. They headed back to the Kirlsa Caverns' rear entrance to begin their search.

"There we go!" Zone cheered as he navigated the hauler to the exit. He and Watts received their clue. "Travel on foot through the Bequerel Mountain path to the Pit Stop at Arias. Warning, the last team to check in may be eliminated."  
"Too bad the Ronso aren't going to make this one," Watts said.  
"Whoa, whoa, careful! Don't count the Ronso out yet! They keep beating people in footraces. We gotta get to the Pit Stop and _fast_!"  
"True, let's go!"

"Dona and Barthello," Gippal said, "you're team number three!"  
"Three?" Barthello asked. "Excuse me, sir, but we had three teams ahead of us."  
"Fran and Balthier had to retrieve a route marker they'd missed," he explained.  
"I _thought_ I saw them running the other way!" Dona said. "I just _assumed_ they were lost."  
"Well, congrats on the upgrade," Gippal said.  
"Thank you," Barthello said.

Zone and Watts headed down the mountain in search of Arias when they saw Fran and Balthier running in the opposite direction. Zone and Watts waved, but got no response as Fran and Balthier ran by.  
"Weird," Watts said.  
"This is crucial," Zone replied. "I think they missed something."  
"I hope _we_ didn't miss anything."  
"Same here."  
They continued down the mountain and into the city of Arias. Zone spotted the church and they ran inside to the Pit Stop mat.  
"Zone and Watts," Gippal said, "you're team number four!"  
"Thanks, Gippal," Watts said. "We're happy and lucky to be here."  
"I wonder if this'll take Fran and Balthier out..." Zone said.  
"We'll find out," Gippal replied.

Yenke attempted the minecart roadblock several times. He had a marker out and started writing noties on the back of his very hairy arm. After several attemps, he had written "left" and "right" so many times and had crossed out many of the words. His arms were covered in writings and even his legs slightly. Then, finally, he reached the end, where they were greeted by Fran and Balthier, as well as the soldier, who handed them a clue.  
"Good day," Balthier said. "We need your hauler."  
The Ronso were very confused. The soldier nearby hopped in the minecart and instructed Fran and Balthier to follow. He told the hauler to accelerate and took them back to the start while the Ronso read their clue.  
"Yenke is too confused to think," Yenke said. "Travel on Ronso feet through Be... Be-kwer-eel Mountains! Aha! Yenke know 'Mountain' word! Travel on Ronso feet through Mountains to Pit Stop in Arias."  
The Ronso ignored their encounter with Fran and Balthier and set off for the city of Arias.

"I think I know what we did," Fran said as she sorted through the clues. "We know we did not stray until the clue to the Kirlsa Caverns. We followed them exactly. But in this clue that tells us to make our way to the caverns to the west, we were never told to explore the caverns, and should not have found the roadblock."  
"Let's hope we only missed _one_ route info," Balthier said. "If it even makes a difference. We may very well have fallen out of this race, you know."  
"Best to not let it destroy us. Use your brain, Ffamran. It is the only thing that will set us apart from those Ronso."  
Balthier nodded and began to look over a map. He took out a marker and began plotting their route through Elicoor II to see what they might have done wrong.  
Once they reached the other side of the mines, they both quickly hopped out. Both had already put away the documents they studied and thanked the hauler-driving soldier as they raced toward the entrance of the caverns. It was there that Fran grabbed the back of Balthier's collar before he raced too far ahead of her and eased him to a stop. She pointed beside them to a clue box that sat beside the cavern's entrance.  
"How in blazes did we miss this?" Balthier said. He took the clue out and read it to Fran. "Make your way inside the caverns and search for your next clue."  
"Let's hurry back," Fran said. This time, Balthier grabbed her by the shoulder before she sprinted away.  
"Wait. Unless we must head that direction, then I noticed on the map that we can get to Arias through the Aire Hills we started from. It means we do not have to climb a giant mountain."  
"Very good, let us hurry." They sprinted off to the south to the city of Kirlsa, then headed east through Aire Hills.

Gippal waited at the Pit Stop with Nel as the next team entered and stepped onto the Pit Stop mat.  
"Welcome to Ar-" Nel began, but was slightly distracted. "Excuse me. Welcome to Arias. Are you mocking me and my people?"  
"Biran and Yenke," Gippal said to the Ronso, "you're team number five!"  
"Wait wait wait," Nel interrupted. She pointed to Yenke's arms and legs, which appeared to have writing all over it similar to the runes tattooed to herself.  
"Yenke gets very lost," Yenke told her. "Never insult other people. Ronso kind people. Very polite to hornless, insuperior humans."  
"Biran and Yenke possibly the politest Ronso ever," Biran added.  
"They aren't smart enough to mock you and your people," Gippal whispered to Nel. "Besides, it looks like directions he's written all over himself."  
"I see," Nel whispered back. "Sorry to cause trouble."

Fran and Balthier finally reached the church a while later and jumped on the Pit Stop mat. Nel welcomed them and Gippal stayed quiet for what seemed like an eternity to Balthier and Fran.  
"Come on, out with it," Balthier said. He and Fran were both still trying to catch their breath.  
"Fran and Balthier," Gippal said, "you're the last team to arrive."  
"We know."  
"I'm sorry to tell you you've not been eliminated from the race."  
"Say again?"  
"This is the first and _only_ non-elimination leg and you both are still in the race."  
Both sighed a huge sigh of relief. "You sure know how to please a man."  
"And woman," Fran added. Both thought about their words, but thought best to not say anything further on the topic.  
"I do have bad news though," Gippal said. "Sometime during the next leg, you will encounter a Speed Bump. A Speed Bump is a task that only you will have to perform. You must complete the task before you continue on with the race. In addition, you will receive no money at the start of the next leg."  
"Why don't you give us something we can't do?" Balthier said cockily. Fran elbowed him.  
"We're grateful to remain in the race," she said. "Thank you."  
"Now, don't you two go and miss the Speed Bump like you did this Route Info," Gippal teased.  
"We won't miss another clue," Balthier said.  
"Knock on wood," Fran added with a smile.  
Balthier laughed. "Seems all Viera love that expression. I guess you can take the Viera from the Woods, but you can't take the Woods from the Viera." He threw his arm around Fran and walked away from the Pit Stop mat with her to join the other racers. "Won't they be happy to see us?"


	22. Episode 8, Part 1

Gippal walked through a small cemetery, then down a flight of stone stairs. Behind him was a small house with a giant wall beyond it. "This is Arias. This city stands on the border between two empires, Aquios and Kirlsa, and has seen a lot of bloodshed because of it. But now, it serves as the seventh Pit Stop in a race around worlds. Teams began their journey in Radiant Garden of the _Kingdom Hearts 2_ verse, then traveled through a computer system to Gemity City in the _Star Ocean 3_ verse. There, they placed horrible bets on adorable bunnies, where some teams got very lucky, and others fell short. Then, they headed to a roadblock that required navigating a strange beast around some mine tracks, but the deal breaker for one team, Fran and Balthier, turned out to be a missed clue box right before the roadblock. This setback caused them to land a position in last place, but, luckily for them, it was the first and only non-elimination leg of the race. Now, can Fran and Balthier overcome their last-place finish _and_ the Speed Bump set in place for them? And will Ma and Zell hold onto their first-place position? Ma and Zell, who were first to arrive at 10:10 am, will depart at 10:10 pm."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 1st to Depart: 10:10 pm]  
"First place, first place, woo-hoo!" Zell shouted.  
Ma smiled as she ripped open the clue to such excitement. "Make your way to Peterny. Five teams will receive 600 fol for this leg of the race. One team will receive zero."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must make their way to the nearby town of Peterny. Once there, teams will find the clue box in the city's square."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Quite a bit more dough than normal," Zell said.  
"Wonder what that converts to in gil?" Ma replied. They headed out the front door of the building used previously for the Pit Stop, but soon realized they had no idea where this "Peterny" was. It was on their map, but the map was very poorly-written. They made a quick circle of the town and quickly realized that there were three large gates leading out of the town. One was the gate they had entered through from the Bequerel Mountain path. Then one, according to the map, led to Aire Hills. The last exit remaining, they assumed, would lead to Peterny. They headed out the gate and down a fairly straightforward path. They were mostly unable to see the green grass, healthy trees, and blue river that made up this path, though they could tell when they were on the bridge over the river because of the sounds. They finally reached the Peterny entrance, which was not far from Arias, but there was a gate that blocked their path. A sign informed them that: "For the safety of Peterny, these gates will open at 8:00 am and close at 10:00 pm."  
"Already lost our lead," Ma said as she pulled a blanket from her bag and sat near the gate.  
"Man, this is the pits." Zell joined her, pulling his own blanket out and laying it a couple feet from Ma. "Now I know why the first-place team always hates these catch-up points..."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 2nd to Depart: 10:19 pm]  
Reina ripped open the clue and read it to Faris. "Make your way to Peterny. Ooh! We get 600 fol for this leg! Wow! That's a lot!"  
Reina and Faris found the path to Peterny and followed it to Ma and Zell. Reina waved to them as she approached. Ma waved back, but Zell had already fallen asleep in a matter of only minutes. The girls sat beside Ma and waited for the gates to open. They each pulled a sleeping bag out to prepare for a nap.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, 3rd to Depart: 10:41 pm]  
Dona read the clue to Barthello, then walked out of the building in search of Peterny. Barthello pointed the way and they began walking down the path.

-{Dona & Barthello: Interview}-

Dona and Barthello stood in front of a window in the dining hall of the Pit Stop building in Arias.  
"It was our highest finish ever this week," Barthello said. He seemed more excited than usual, but that wasn't saying a lot for the constantly stoic man. "We've been averaging around sixth, and now, sixth is elimination. We will continue to be in third or better from this point on."  
"First on the final leg, of course," Dona added. "But what was more exciting than our _third_ place, was Fran and Balthier's _last_ place. Just like _our_ alliance took out Reno and Rude, _we_ will ensure thisleg eliminates _those_ two."

-{End Interview}-

Dona and Barthello reached the area where the previous two teams waited, but decided to wait further out. They found a small tree not far from the entrance and set up camp under it. Dona whined whenever a leaf fell on her.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, 4th to Depart: 10:59 pm]  
Zone ripped open the clue and read it to Watts, then headed out to Peterny.  
They found the group awake, even Zell, and chatting about random things. Reina and Ma waved to the boys as they tossed down sleeping bags and joined in the group discussion.  
"Nice to see you," Ma said.  
"Likewise," Watts said. "So what's going on?"  
"We're discussing ways to knock out Fran and Balthier!" Zell said excitedly.  
"It be a fine opportunity," Faris added.  
Zone and Watts sat across from the group by the gate and joined in the conversation. Right as they sat down, Reina stood up and moved to sit by Zone. He tensed up. A lot. The only thing moving was his left hand, which rested on the ground beside Watts. It nervously twitched almost constantly. Watts smiled, then put his backpack on Zone's hand to hold it still. He grinned from the pain, but mouthed "thanks" to Watts nonetheless.  
"Any plans?" Watts asked. "I don't think we can just 'team up' and eliminate them."  
"Maybe we can!" Zell said. "If we all just do well...they lose!"  
"We can't count on other teams ter lose," Faris said.  
"Let 'em lose! I mean, I think we all want the Ronso to stay in because they're good, fun competition, but umm... Aside from all of us and the Ronso," he started to speak in a whisper and cupped his mouth with the back of his hand, "I wouldn't mind seeing either of the other teams go."  
"I second that," Watts said. "But Zone and I are pretty solo. Not much for alliances."  
"Don't count on that," Ma chuckled. She subtly pointed at Reina, who had fallen asleep with her head on Zone's leg.  
"What do I do?!" Zone whispered loudly to Watts.  
"Har!" Faris laughed. "Best leave her be, mate. Don' want ter be wakin' a woman when she's picked 'er sleepin' grounds."  
"All right, so we're all flying solo?" Zell said to confirm.  
"I think that's best," Watts replied.  
"But maybe we can give tips if it looks like any of us three teams are struggling or something?" Ma suggested.  
Everybody agreed and turned in for the night. Zone slept sitting up with Reina still using Zone's leg as a pillow.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, 5th to Depart: 11:28 pm]  
Biran ripped open the clue and read it to Yenke. "Make way to Peter Town. Ronso get 600 fol. One team howls alone."  
The Ronso exited the building and looked around. They tried their hardest to figure out where to go, but failed. Biran finally found somebody out for a midnight snack and asked directions. The man, scared stiff by the beasts demanding the location of Peterny, pointed with a shaking finger to the gates to the town.

-{Biran & Yenke: Interview}-

Biran and Yenke were outside the Arias Pit Stop at night, so obviously not long before their departure. They stood and faced the camera.  
"Biran proving to be powerful racer!" Biran said. "Breaking down stereotype that all Ronso stupid and worthless!"  
"Yenke doing that, too!" Yenke said.  
"Yenke _kinda_ doing that. But mostly Biran. Going to prove that Ronso are strong! Ronso are wise! Ronso are good at blitzball! Ronso good at _everything_."  
"Yenke just glad hornless ones here have good soap. Yenke wash away all markings on body. Hornless ones claim Yenke mock them because they like to write on themselves. But Yenke was not mocking. Yenke _understand_ why people write on their bodies. It for cheating on test. Woman at Pit Stop talk about _her_ notes being for her _Symbology._ Ronso know a thing or two about cheating on tests, but Yenke not know what Symbology class is. But Ronso know notes on Ronso body not help. Teacher catch it easily and blame Yenke. So Yenke write notes on back of Ronso in _front_ of Yenke! That way Yenke get to cheat, and other Ronso get in trouble!"  
"Hey!" Biran shouted, then punched Yenke hard in the arm. "That for boring Biran!"  
"Yenke was _just_ trying to explain!"

-{End Interview}-

Biran and Yenke finally reached Peterny and found the other teams sleeping. They decided it best to rest as well, so they found a hill a short distance away and rested on the other side of it for a better view of the moon.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Last to Depart: 11:54 pm]  
"Let me guess," Balthier said as Fran ripped open the clue. "No money?"  
Fran pulled out the clue and read it to Balthier. "Make your way to Peterny. Five teams will receive 600 fol for this leg of the race. One team will receive zero."  
"Well aren't we special." Balthier picked up his backpack and followed Fran as she led him out of the town and toward Peterny, where they found the other teams asleep. Balthier did a quick head count. Then a second head count.  
"Something wrong?" Fran asked.  
"Seems we're missing our Ronso friends," Balthier noted, not knowing the Ronso were on the other side of the hill. "We may be back in this race already."  
Fran and Balthier pulled out their own blanket and slept.

[8:00 am: Gates to Peterny Opening]  
They teams were all awake and ready to enter the gates as an armored man came to unlock the entrance. The city was large and, despite the locked gates, already full of people. The crowded streets led to a large city square, where several carts were set up with merchandise. People cycled through the carts and also walked into several of the nearby shops. This trading town was already very, very busy.  
Balthier nudged Fran and pointed to the Ronso, who were sleepily moving from their hill to the entrance. "Figures," Fran mouthed.  
In the middle of the city square, all teams noticed the bright red-and-yellow flag on their next clue box. The man opened the gates and the teams headed inside. Zell, the sisters, and the Ronso were the most aggressive as they sprinted to the clue box, which required dodging and shoving their way through the endless mess of people. The other racers chose to stay out of the intense footrace and instead jogged to the box.  
Zell was the first to reach the box, but not the first to open the clue as he needed to return to Ma to open it. The Ronso barely edged out Faris and Reina for the first opened clue.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Detour: Invent or Patent," Biran read.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In Invent, teams make their way to a nearby craft shop, where they must invent a new item. They can make any kind of craft, ranging from electrical devices, weapon and armor crafting, or simply baking a delicious treat. Any craft will work, but the item must be decent and rank at least a rating of 30, as determined by the guild master's rating machine. Achieving the rating of 30 can be very difficult, but teams with strong creativity could finish quickly. In Patent, teams must search through the guild master's shop and search through several already-created items and find enough items to have the combined sum of their ratings add up to exactly 1000. The items are not labeled, so teams will have to check their rating with the guild master's machine, then remember their value and calculate the sums. There are several items in the shop, so teams with a bad eye for quality or bad math skills may take a long time."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Biran and Yenke will invent!" Biran announced. "Ronso very creative. Ronso invent 'The Horn.' Pathetic humans only invent round rolly thing."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"I've got a decent eye for crafting," Reina said. "But I think we could probably team up with Zone and Watts easily on the patent one."  
"Aye, an' that patent reminds me o' treasure huntin'. A pirate doesn't make 'er own booty, she takes someone else's!"  
"Patent it is, then! Should we try to talk Zone and Watts into it?"  
"D' ye really think they won't be pickin' it fer themselves?"  
Reina smiled. "Okay, let's find the shop!"

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place]  
"Patent? Booooring," Zell said. "Err, unless you wanna do it, Ma."  
"What do you take me for, Zelly? A 'boooooring' mom?" Ma smiled and punched Zell lightly in the arm. "Let's invent!"

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 4th Place]  
"I haven't the foggiest," Balthier said. "I suppose we're good with our hands, so...invent?"  
"Sounds much more interesting at least," Fran added. "I suppose we'll invent."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 5th Place]  
"I think we're good at crafting items," Zone said. "Maybe if we made a model train set!"  
"That took us _hours_ , remember?" Watts replied. "If we invent, we need to invent something quick and easy. I think we might do better with the other detour."  
"What do you suppose Reina is doing?"  
"Doesn't matter. Don't lose focus on the race _now._ "  
"Right. Of course not. Sorry. Let's do what you said. Let's do patent."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in Last Place]  
"What do you think, Dona?" Barthello asked after reading the clue.  
"I'm a shopper, Barthello. I'll shop. We'll do Patent. I can pick out highly-rated objects easily."

All teams raced down the crowded streets of Peterny and followed either the subtle arrows pointing toward the craft shop or following a team that followed these arrows. Biran and Yenke were first into the shop, where a shop full of very random supplies and tools awaited them. There were several stations, but only one station of each type. The types were alchemy, cooking, crafting, compounding, engineering, smithery, and writing.  
The Ronso seemed a bit confused, so Biran poked at a short, old man in the corner, who was sleeping in a chair. He awoke with a start, then became even _more_ startled at the sight of Biran and Yenke.  
"Goodness!" he said. "What do you want from me!?"  
"Biran is confused. Which station for making weapon?" Biran asked.  
"Smithery, of course."  
"Of _course_ ," Yenke replied, as if he had just solved a Scooby-Doo mystery. He and Biran made their way to the smithery station and turned over a card that read "in use," which claimed the station as theirs for the challenge. They found hammers, an anvil, a furnace, and several other smithery materials. They began working immediately on crafting a large spear. A _very_ large spear.

Reina and Faris entered the shop of previously-crafted items and immediately regretted their choice. The walls were _packed_ with crazy inventions, and there was a sliding ladder on the wall to reach those that were on the high parts of the shelves. Reina ran in and grabbed the first item she could find, which was a small bomb. She looked around and finally found a blonde woman, Welch, with long pigtails carrying a stick with a pointing, gloved hand on the end. She stood beside a machine that looked like a slot machine, only it had only two reels, both of which were numbers. It began on the default setting of 50.  
"How do I check this item's rating?" Reina asked her.  
"Wha? Oh! Hi!" she said in a high, cheery voice. "You can just set it here," she pointed to a small table beside the machine, "and pull the handle on the rating machine. And that's it!"  
"Okay, thanks!" Reina placed the bomb on the table and pulled the handle. The ones digit began cycling down quickly and the tens digit fell every time the ones spun around ten times. The numbers finally started to slow around 4, then stopped when the machine hit the absolute low of 1.  
"Ohh, I'm sorry, that one's not very good," the blonde said.  
"This might take a while," Reina said to Faris. She placed the object back on the shelves, then walked to Faris, who was drawing something on a piece of paper. "What're you doing?"  
"Makin' a treasure map," Faris replied. "I drew a quick sketch of the shelves and put a '1' on the spot where we found this bomb."  
"Ooh, good plan! You do that, I'll pick items!"

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place]  
[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 4th Place]  
Ma, Zell, Fran, and Balthier all entered the craft store at the same time. They noticed that the stations were first come, first served, so they looked quickly to try to pick before their opponents chose. Fran and Balthier didn't hesitate in the slightest as they approached the engineering station.  
" _Man,_ that's what I'd have picked!" Zell told Ma.  
"Now Zelly, let your mum carry her own weight for once," she replied. "Remember my recipe for Beanie-Weenie Casserole?"  
"Oh, _heck_ yeah!" Zell raced to the cooking station and turned over the card to indicate the station was in use. Ma quickly searched through the cabinet for supplies, just as Balthier and Fran were doing the same.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 5th Place]  
[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in Last Place]  
For possibly the first time in the entire race, Dona was rushing to reach the patent shop, driven by her ambition to shop. She and Barthello caught up to the Forest Owls as they all entered the shop together. Zone saw Reina and went right into stomach-ache mode while Watts started to assess the wall of inventions. He tried to look at Faris's map, but she tucked it away under her arm and shook a finger at him. He chuckled, then pulled out his own paper to do something similar.  
Dona, meanwhile, had already grabbed a pair of slippers on the wall and checked it with the machine. She pulled the lever and the numbers began cycling up until finally hitting 60.  
"Very _good,_ Dona!" Barthello said.  
"Can it, I have work to do," she said. She handed the slippers to Barthello with a one-word order: "Hold."

"Ronso finish!" Biran shouted as he heaved their mighty, horribly-crafted spear into the air. It was a standard spear and had no special qualities except that the weight was horribly distributed. Biran showed the spear to the guild master, who simply shook his head and pointed to the patent shop across the street.  
"The patent shop has the machine that will evaluate that," he informed Biran. "Take it over there and see if that _thing_ gets 30 or higher."  
Biran and Yenke proudly ran their spear across to the patent shop and fought through the three teams that were busy searching through objects and checking them with the machine. When Biran finally got a chance to use the machine, he pulled the handle and watched the numbers fall at a very rapid pace. It finally reached a score of 1.  
"Yenke shocked!" Yenke said.  
Biran angrily took back the spear and ran across the street to continue working on it. Neither had any ideas until finally a brilliant idea came to Biran. "What if spear had _more_ horns!?"  
"Biran is brilliant! Why Yenke not think of it?"  
"Because Yenke not brilliant. Now get Biran more horns!"

Ma threw her casserole into the oven and set a timer for fifteen minutes. Zell took a seat to wait, but Ma quickly pulled him to his feet. "We're not resting yet, Zelly. We need to make a side dish, just in case."  
"I guess that makes sense. What can I do, Ma?" he asked.  
"Think of what you like to eat with hot dogs." Ma knew what Zell would reply and cut him off just as he opened his mouth. "And no, not more hot dogs."  
"Geez, Ma. Well I dunno. Maybe garlic bread?"  
"Sure, we'll make some garlic bread. I don't see it going wonderfully with beanie-weenie casserole, but garlic bread _does_ complete any meal. But let's also steam some vegetables. Always have a few backup plans, Zelly. It's the Dincht way."

Balthier grabbed several items from the engineering cabinet and placed them on the table where Fran was busy welding things together. He had a big smile on his face. "I'd like to come back here someday. This workshop has quite the selection of tools."  
"It _is_ nice, but try to focus," Fran reminded him as she put the welding equipment away and took one of the microchips Balthier had brought over and installed it in the device.  
"What's to focus on? It's just an airship navigational radar. I've made so many that I could do this with my eyes closed."  
"You'd be wise to not let me catch you with closed eyes. Do not forget we have a Speed Bump ahead."  
"Wish I _could_ forget that," Balthier said. "Makes me think we should add something to our navigational radar so that it definitely makes the minimum rating. Perhaps a built-in communicator?"  
"If you can build that and not bother me, then by all means, add one in," Fran said.

Watts continued to search among the items for a new, hopefully high-ticket item. He looked over his shoulder at Zone, who seemed to be unfocused on the task as he and Reina were discussing something privately while waiting behind Dona at the rating machine. Watts sighed, then grabbed a device called the Ultimate Bomb and lined up behind Zone. He poked Zone in the back mid-laughter.  
"What is it?" Zone asked. The smile on his face quickly faded when he saw his partner looking mildly upset, likely at him.  
"We need to be focused on the race," came the reply. "Whatever you have going on with Reina is great, but we can't be throwing the race away for it."  
"Of course not," Zone said. He showed Watts a piece of paper he'd been writing on during the challenge. He had three columns, each labeled as one of the three teams doing the Patent detour. He had written down each of the items that had been scanned by any of them and the value of the object. "I know I should've mentioned it before, but I've been working with Reina to make this chart." His voice got quieter as he spoke further. "I haven't been looking for good items, I'm just grabbing any item from the shelves and standing in line to look at the ratings of each object. Just in case somebody throws back an item, _or,_ the case I'm really hoping for, so that I can find a new arrangement of the objects so that we can strike a deal to help us and one other team to get out of here quickly."  
"Wonder what team you're hoping that team is," Watts smirked as Reina put her object on the machine. "Just don't lose focus, okay?"  
"Okay." Zone turned around to watch the machine and take notes.

Fran and Balthier entered the patent shop and waited in line to use the machine. Fran held a small device that fit in the palm of her hand. They watched as Zone removed his small book from the table beside the machine, which ranked as a 1 on the scale. Next, Watts placed his bomb on the scale and they watched as the numbers shot up above 50 and finally landed on 80. Watts cheered quietly as he moved his bomb and allowed Fran to place her device on the table. Everybody watched eagerly as Fran pulled the machine's handle. The numbers started to go down, but at a slow pace. The machine stopped at a value of 40.  
"That it?" Balthier asked.  
"Wow, good job!" Welch told them. She handed Fran a clue and took Fran's device from her.  
Fran started to rip it open, but stopped when she realized all eyes were watching them. She motioned for Balthier to follow her outside, which he did.  
Once outside, she read the clue. "Make your way to the Aquatic Garden in the Surfario Ruins. Caution: U-Turn ahead."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to the Surfario Ruins located to the north through the Irisa Fields."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Glad to be getting out of here in first," Balthier said. "I'd rather _not_ have to deal with a U-Turn _and_ a Speed Bump." Balthier quickly took to the streets, asking the locals for the direction to the Surfario Ruins. Fran followed closely behind, also asking some of the locals for directions. They stopped a man in the central area of Peterny and asked him for directions.  
"Surfario? Or the Surfario _Ruins?_ " the man asked for clarification.  
"Oh, the err, ruins," Balthier clarified, double-checking with the clue. "The ones with the Aquatic Garden."  
"Ah, that's to the north," he said. "Head through the fields and veer west. Can't miss it."  
"Good to know. Cheers." Balthier and Fran headed through the crowded streets to the north exit of Peterny.

"We have too much, Dona," Barthello said. He was guarding a pile of objects in the corner of the room and holding a pad of paper covered in addition. The total was 1,030. "We need to put back something worth 30."  
"We don't _have_ anything worth 30. Not anything less than that, either," Dona said. "Best we have is this Amulet of Freedom, which is 50."  
"So we would need to find something worth... 20?" Barthello checked with his math on his paper, then nodded to confirm.  
"I already know something worth 20," she replied, making a sideways glance at the piles of items being collected by Reina and Faris. All teams had been piling the objects around the room and cataloging them, but Barthello was the only person in the room actually guarding their pile. The other teams were grabbing items, putting them in their piles, and adding the item and the value to a list. "Barthello, look through the rules for the task. Are we _allowed_ to take items from others?"  
"It doesn't say," Barthello said. "There is nothing about holding onto items."  
"That's what I thought. Nothing _says_ we needed to make piles. We were _supposed_ to probably just put all the items back, which means there is no rule against taking from other piles."  
"But it's-"  
"Can it, Barthello. We need that Badge of Intellect that Reina found earlier. Now, distract everybody so I can grab it."  
"Yes, Dona." Barthello stood up and started grabbing for an object on the shelf that was just out of his reach. He slowly pulled at the corner of it while Dona moved across the room, seemingly to line up for the rating machine, but the line curved very closely to the pile Reina and Faris were making. She gave Barthello the cue she was ready by scratching her ear. He gave the large Battle Sphere one final tug, then acted as if he were trying to catch it as it fell to the floor with a loud _crash!_ As the object hit the ground, Reina, Faris, and Zone moved their gaze to the site of the loud noise as Dona reached down and grabbed the Badge of Intellect. She hid the badge and walked back to the pile to pretend to yell at Barthello.  
"You _oaf,_ " she said, hitting him in the arm. "Put that back, we have our thousand points already. Just get rid of this stupid thing." She grabbed the Amulet of Freedom and tossed it out of the pile while subtly adding the Badge of Intellect to it.  
Welch sorted through their pile and counted the objects with her pointing stick. After a very quick count, she pulled out a clue and handed it to Dona. "Very good!"  
"Thanks," Dona said dryly. She grabbed her things and headed outside with Barthello to read her clue.  
"Not exactly playing fair, are we?" Watts said quietly as they walked by him.  
"Don't know _what_ you mean," Dona replied.  
"Of course not."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Dona and Barthello stepped outside and read through their clue. "Make your way to the Aquatic Garden in the Surfario Ruins. Caution: U-Turn ahead," Barthello read.  
"You," Dona said, pointing at a local woman walking in front of them. "We need to find the Surfario Ruins. Where is it?"  
"The ruins? To the north, ma'am," she replied, then continued walking.  
"Okay, let's go, Barthello," Dona said.  
"Yes," he replied. He took her backpack and they pushed through the crowded streets to use the north exit.


	23. Episode 8, Part 2

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place]  
Fran and Balthier traveled through the Irisa Field and crossed a marble bridge, which looked ready to crumble. Once across, they followed a sign pointing them down a slope that went beneath a large, old tree. At the end of the slope was a small opening with two marble columns on either side of it. They entered and found that this was hardly the weirdest thing about this location. Suddenly, they walked along a long, winding, marble path that seemed to be floating on air. There was no ground beneath this garden. There were several red-and-yellow signs telling teams to watch their step.  
"Wasn't expecting this," Balthier said. "Were you?"  
"Only a little," Fran replied.  
"Oh, come now." Balthier smiled and led Fran through the ruins to a U-Turn mat that waited ahead on a wider section of ground. These larger sections were not without danger, however, as they had random holes in them. Avoiding one such hole, Balthier and Fran stepped on the U-Turn mat.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A U-Turn appears at the end of the detour. Teams can use the power of a U-Turn to slow down another team, forcing them to backtrack and perform the other side of the detour they did not previously complete. This is the fourth of six delay points in this race."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Impossible to use it," Fran told the camera, since they had already used their delay. They moved to the clue box, where Fran removed the next clue. "Roadblock: Who likes to play with blocks?"  
"Suppose that's me," Balthier said as he looked on with Fran for the rest of the information.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this roadblock, that team member must solve a difficult puzzle. There are enough puzzles so that all teams can work at the same time if need be, while also being unable to see each other's course. They are all identical. In this puzzle, teams find one of the puzzle areas, which are full of colored, translucent blocks. If one of these blocks is touched, it will follow a specific path, which is marked on the ground. A blue block will follow the blue path on the ground, while a green will follow green. There is only one route each block will follow and it cannot be stopped manually before reaching the destination. However, if another block is in the way, the block will only move as far as it can, then stop.  
"Teams must navigate through this maze to reach the clue, hidden deep within the puzzle area. They cannot climb the blocks, nor jump over the holes in the ground. They must move the blocks out of their way to reach the clue, and that is the only way. Should someone become stuck, they can raise their hand, and they will be helped out of the puzzle while their puzzle is reset to its original form."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Certainly sounds like fun," Balthier said.  
He made his way to the first puzzle room and saw the very large puzzle area. There were a few holes in the ground and the area was surrounded by a low wall, which he knew was out of bounds should he cross it. On the ground were several lines of white, blue, green, and red. He stood on the indicated green square and, upon doing so, about thirty or forty blocks rose out of the ground. They all had a black frame that made them distinct and easy to see, though the panes of glass making up the blocks were tinted blue, green, red, or they just remained white.  
The first step seemed easy enough. There were only two paths into the main puzzle area, but both were blocked. The red block to the right, however, he noticed would move too far and continue to block his path, while the white block would slide just far enough to no longer block him. He touched the white block, which moved along its path and slid back, allowing him enough room to enter.  
"This _will_ be fun."

The oven's timer dinged and Ma quickly took the casserole and the bread out of the oven. She and Zell carried all components of their dinner over to the patent shop and waited in line. Ma continuously batted Zell's hand away from the casserole until it was finally their turn at the machine. The dials spun and the rating went down and down until it finally stopped at exactly 30.  
"Liar, machine!" Zell shouted. "This meal is a 100!" He took a plastic spork from his pocket, which he had stored there earlier for just such an occasion, then grabbed a sporkful of casserole and ate it.  
"Zelly!" Ma said as Welch handed her their clue. She looked to Welch and thanked her. "Are we allowed to have a bite?"  
"Sure, but only if I can!" Welch said, happily.  
Ma pulled the spork from her apron out, which she also was storing just in case she was allowed a taste, and took a bite and grabbed a piece of garlic bread for the road. She pulled a second spork from her bag and handed it to Welch. "Here you are."  
"Gosh, thanks!" Welch started to dig into the 30-point casserole as Ma and Zell went outside to read their clue.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place]  
"Make your way to the Aquatic Garden in the Surfario Ruins. Caution: U-Turn ahead," Zell read.  
He and Ma asked several of the locals for the directions and were pointed out the north exit to the city.

"I've got it!" Zone said to Watts. "If we trade our 70-point Hybrid Bomb with Reina and Faris's 50-point Broken Prophet Cider, we'll _both_ have exactly 1,000!"  
"Let's do it, I suppose," Watts said. "But tell them we want ours counted first, since it was your calculations and all."  
"Good idea." Zone walked up to Reina and Faris and shared the good news. They happily agreed to the conditions and made the trade. Zone called for Welch to count their items. Once again, she counted very quickly, then handed the boys their clue. Zone ripped open the clue and read it while Welch counted Reina and Faris's objects. Zone read loudly enough for Reina and Faris to hear their next destination, plus that a U-Turn was coming up.  
"Ohh, that's not quite enough!" Welch said to Reina and Faris.  
"Yer kiddin'!" Faris barked at her.  
"Nope, sorry. Recount and try again, please."  
"Yeh tricked us!" Faris shouted at Zone and Watts.  
"I thought I calculated right," Zone muttered.  
"We need to recount all these- Or maybe one of the ratings is wrong?" Reina sounded confused and saddened.  
"We didn't trick you," Watts said. "Well, I did a little, but it was Dona. She stole one of your items."  
"And yeh didn't tell us!?" Faris shouted.  
"Hush, Faris," Reina said. "He's telling us now. What'd they take?"  
"Some badge," Watts said. "We're really sorry, but we can't stay any longer."  
"Of course not," Reina said. "Good luck, guys."  
"It's the Badge of Intellect!" Zone said, looking at his chart. Watts slowly pulled him from the building while he shouted final words to Reina. "It was worth 20!"

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place]  
Zone and Watts searched the streets for directions to the Surfario Ruins and finally learned that they were to the north. Zone seemed to be a bit upset, so Watts tried to talk to him on their walk. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away."  
"Why didn't you?" he asked.  
"You'd have been too focused on finding more items for them."  
"I would _not_! Well...you may be right."  
"Best thing we can do now is hope to reach the U-Turn before Dona and Barthello. Give 'em what's coming to 'em."  
"Yeah, let's do it!" Zone started walking faster, leaving Watts to catch up with him.  
"This'll surely put us on the radar," Watts mumbled to himself. "Better know what you're doing, buddy."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Dona and Barthello casually walked through the Irisa Field and came across the cracked bridge. Barthello started to cross it, but soon noticed that Dona was no longer beside him. He turned and saw Dona pretending to be reading the map. He knew she wasn't, however, since it wasn't even fully unfolded.  
"Dona, what's wrong?" Barthello asked.  
"Nothing, I just want to make sure we're going the right way," she replied.  
"Are you afraid of the bridge?"  
"Me? Puh- _lease,_ " she said, putting the map away.  
As Dona slowly inched toward the bridge, Ma and Zell approached from behind, jogging at a much faster pace than Dona and Barthello were walking.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place]  
"I'm starting to get in shape, Zelly!" Ma said happily. "I'll bet I could fit into some of my old clothes now!"  
"That's great, Ma!" he replied.  
"Oh, but time to walk now," Ma said, grabbing her side. "Phew, that last dress size will have to come off later."  
They calmly walked across the bridge, both falling completely silent as they passed Dona and Barthello. Afterward, they resumed their playful banter.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Dona finally reached the bridge and put her first foot on it, then took it off. "It'll _break_."  
"I've been standing on it the whole time," Barthello said. "And Zell and his mom just crossed it while I was on it."  
"That doesn't prove anything."  
Barthello suddenly got an idea. He took a couple steps backwards, further into the bridge. "You don't mean to say you weigh more than Ma, Zell, and me _combined,_ do you?"  
" _What_ did you say?" Dona's eyebrows narrowed and her hands gripped her hips tightly.  
"That you must be _fat_ ," Barthello said, taking another couple steps backwards.  
"You don't want to say that again."  
"That you're _fat_!?" Barthello shouted, since now he was across the bridge entirely.  
"Take it back."  
"Make me." Barthello smirked. He cupped his hands and took a deep breath, then started to shout. "Dona is a _huuuuuuge-_ "  
He was cut short as Dona had raced across the bridge and tackled him full-force. She hit him really hard, but, because of his stature, it was only enough to knock him off balance, not off his feet. Barthello picked Dona up and gave her a tight hug. "You did it, Dona! You crossed the bridge! I'm so proud of you! OH! And I'm so, so sorry about the things I said! I just wanted to help you cross the bridge! Honest! You're the thinnest person I know. Possibly the thinnest, sexiest woman in the world!"  
" _Sexiest_? Put me _down,_ Barthello," Dona said, breaking Barthello's grip. He put her down and they started silently walking toward the Aquatic Garden. Then, out of nowhere, Dona took Barthello's hand, bringing a smile to the normally-stoic man's face.

Ma and Zell reached the U-Turn mat and faced the camera.  
"Uhh, too late!" Zell said. "Accidentally used this on the Frat-Rat."  
"What a mistake _that_ turned out to be," Ma said as she took the clue from the box. "Roadblock: Who likes to play with blocks?"  
"Oh, oh! Please, Ma! I've gotta do this one," Zell pleaded.  
"Go ahead," Ma said in a very motherly voice.  
"Sweeeet." Zell ran to the first available puzzle room and stood on the green switch. The blocks formed in front of him and, when he saw the quantity of blocks, he started to regret things. "This...might be hard."

Dona and Barthello found the U-Turn mat and realized they suddenly had an interesting situation.  
"Should we use it?" Barthello asked.  
"If _you're_ considering it, then yes, probably," Dona said. "Who is behind us?"  
"Zone and Watts, Biran and Yenke, and Reina and Faris. I think we shouldn't use it on Biran and Yenke."  
"And _why_ not? There better not be an alliance I don't know about between all you musclebound-"  
"No, nothing like that. It's just that they've already used their delay, so knocking them out of the competition would still leave two teams that could use their delays on us."  
"I thought you were muscle, not brains," Dona said. "But you're right. Still, if we used it on them and they _survived,_ they wouldn't be able to get back at us."  
"Yeah, but-" Barthello paused to think. "It could be risky if we U-Turn either of the other two teams. They seem to have an alliance. If we knock out one, the other might just be really, really mad at us. They'll do anything to stop us."  
"They _already_ really really want to stop us. Better to eliminate them as quickly as possible and only have one to deal with."  
"Yeah, but-"  
"No buts, Barthello. We're U-Turning either Reina and Faris or Zone and Watts. Choose one."  
"Why do I-"  
"Choose _now_."  
Barthello nodded and reached into the box and slapped a picture onto the U-Turn mat before they moved to pick up their clue. The camera intentionally hid the identity of the U-Turn as it turned to face Barthello and Dona reading their next clue.  
"Roadblock: Who likes to play with blocks?" Dona read. " _You_ do it. These blocks might be heavy."  
"Very well," Barthello said as he found his puzzle room.

"Perfect!" Biran said, holding their new monstrosity above his head. Their spear was now _covered_ in spikes. The front was only distinguishable because it had a large spearhead that was decorated with feathers. The back had a smaller spearhead and only one dangling feather. All along the spear itself were spikes, except in the locations where they had placed the grips. There was only one gripping spot, which was just big enough for a Ronso-sized hand. Only someone with Ronso strength could ever hope to wield this weapon, which was probably just as dangerous to use as it was to fight against. They took it to the patent shop and used the machine to determine the quality. The wheels spun around and finally landed on a value of 20.  
"Sorry, guys," Welch said. "I think it's all those spikes. They look scary!"  
"They metaphors. For _horns_!" Yenke told her.  
"I...think I get it," she said. "But still, it needs some more work. Maybe taking the spikes off would make it kinda cool?"  
Yenke and Biran decided it was worth a try, then started ripping the spikes off with their bare hands. Welch was rather frightened.  
"Don't worry, it only because of our Ronso strength!" Biran told her.

-{Biran & Yenke: Interview}-

"It not because of Ronso strength," Biran told the camera in a separate interview.  
"Ronso only attached pointies with Elmer glue," Yenke explained.  
"If horns were _really_ attached, then _definitely_ need Ronso strength!"

-{End Interview}-

With all the spikes removed, they checked the spear again. This time, the dial did not move at all. It stayed right on the 50 mark.  
"Can Ronso make spears or what!?" Biran said as he took the clue from Welch. He and Yenke read their clue and ran outside to try to find the Surfario Ruins, but after asking separate locals, they soon began fighting over the directions.  
"Pathetic hornless human say it to west!" Biran shouted.  
"No, to _north_ ," Yenke shouted back.  
"Can Ronso go different directions?" Biran asked the cameraman. He told them that they couldn't, so the Ronso settled it the only way they knew how: a horn-off.  
Biran stood horn-to-horn with Yenke. Both slowly moved their heads toward each other until finally, Yenke got poked in the head by Biran's horn. "Ha ha! Biran win! Biran horn larger, so we do like _Biran_ say. Ronso go out _this_ exit."  
With that, the Ronso made their way out the west exit of Peterny.

[Puzzle Room #1]  
"This certainly can't be right," Balthier said. He looked around at the room, wherein he was completely surrounded by different colored blocks. He touched a green one, which slid out of his way and released him from the block prison, but he was still surrounded by several other blocks. "I wonder if I should start over. Wish I knew if I was moving in the right direction. If I could see a map of all this it'd be a breeze. Likely, anyway."

[Puzzle Room #2]  
"Ma should've done this." Zell took a seat on the ground to try to gain a new perspective. He finally saw a solution to the puzzle. "Aha!" he shouted as he jumped to his feet. He ran and jumped across a hole in the floor to reach the treasure, but the puzzle suddenly started to restart. "What gives!?" he shouted. He waited for a response, but then decided to read through his clue a second time. "Ohh, the whole 'can't jump over holes' thing. My bad. _Man,_ this sucks."

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place]  
Watts began to approach the broken bridge with Zone slightly behind him. "Close your eyes, bud."  
"Why? There's something scary, isn't there?" Zone said, cradling his stomach.  
"I dunno, are you okay with crossing crumbling bridges?"  
"I can do it," Zone replied. "I'm on a mission to beat Dona and Barthello. Just...don't remind me about the bridge ever again, okay?"  
"Got it."  
Watts and Zone crossed the bridge and found the passage to the Surfario Ruins. They headed down the winding path to the U-Turn mat. Both suddenly froze when it was in viewing distance.  
"We're U-Turned," Watts said. Sure enough, their faces were on the U-Turn signboard in the section labeled "U-Turned." In the "Courtesy of" section was a picture of Dona and Barthello.  
"I thought they were trying to knock the girls out," Zone said.  
"I shouldn't've said anything," Watts said. "Come on, back to the detour."  
"Said anything?" Zone asked as he turned to leave. They both started jogging out of the ruins while Watts explained.  
"I saw them steal the thing from Reina and Faris's pile. I said something. I forget what, but something to the effect of calling them dirty players."  
"Great. We have enemies now."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 5th Place]  
"Finally, a 20!" Reina said. She pulled the Fruity Potion from the rating machine and put it in their pile. Welch examined the pile and handed Reina the next clue. "Make your way to the Aquatic Garden in the Surfario Ruins. Caution: U-Turn ahead."  
"We be perfect bait fer this U-Turn," Faris said. "Let's hurry, sis."  
"Right."  
They headed outside and searched through the crowd for somebody that new the location of the Surfario Ruins. Finally, they found the same man that talked to Fran and Balthier, who knew what they needed before they even asked. He pointed them to the north. They left in the indicated direction and started through the large, green field, where they saw Zone and Watts coming for them quickly.  
"Easy roadblock?" Faris shouted to them, smiling.  
"Dunno," Watts huffed. "We got...U-Turned."  
"Oh no!" Reina shouted. She covered her mouth with her hands. She tried to think of something else to say, but the boys were running by them quickly, so all she could think to say was, "Good luck!"

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 5th Place]  
Biran and Yenke finished their trek down a hilly field and reached a town beside a river. Several docks and other bridges connected this waterside down. They wandered through the town and finally found a clue box. Biran opened the clue and read it to Yenke.  
"Travel west through cave and desert to find Mosel Ruins," Biran read. He started to lead Yenke through the town to the west exit, when suddenly, a thought crossed Yenke's mind.  
"Biran, something not right," he explained. "Last clue say U-Turn coming. But no U-Turn."  
"It probably in new place. Mossy Ruins. Hurry up, Yenke. Slowing Ronso down!"  
"Yenke think something wrong."  
"Biran know what wrong! It Yenke!"  
"Yenke not wrong!" Yenke shouted. "This not right place. Yenke would bet his _horn_ on it!"  
Biran gasped _very_ loudly and fell silent. He finally nodded. "If Yenke is that sure, then Biran agrees. Ronso go back."  
Yenke and Biran left the riverside town and headed back to Peterny to ask for directions again.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in Last Place]  
Watts led Zone through the crowded streets of Peterny and back to the detour. This time, however, they went across the street to the Invent detour. They searched through the different sections of parts and finally decided to do some engineering.

-{Zone & Watts: Interview}-

"We couldn't think of much on our run back to the detour," Watts told the camera. "The only thing either of us could think to do was to make a motion sensor and a heat sensor."  
"During an engagement of ours back on our world, we found these sensors on a couple of guards and learned how to not only replicate them, but make them better," Zone said. "Now we're making them here, which really shouldn't be hard since they provide some really useful tools. Most of the work is already done for us. It's just a matter of connecting the right wires and such."

-{End Interview}-

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 4th Place]  
Reina and Faris reached the U-Turn sign and saw Zone and Watts's picture on the board. After a quick glare at Dona and Barthello's picture, Reina joined Faris in reading the roadblock clue. "Roadblock: Who likes to play with blocks?"  
"Suppose I should," Faris said. She read through the clue, then headed off to her own room to do the roadblock.

Barthello pushed around his blocks and learning the tricks to the maze such as blocking your block's path. He was having a fairly easy time with it since he was so tall and could see around the blocks, but was struggling with planning out his moves in advance.

In a nearby maze, Balthier was having similar difficulties. He pushed some of the blocks to make a path in, but was completely fixated on the block in the beginning of the maze.  
"I _know_ I need to move that one and that is all, but if I move it, it blocks a different section of the path, which hardly does me any good at all. I sure hope this maze even _has_ a solution..."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 5th Place]  
Biran and Yenke reached Peterny for a second time. Biran immediately found the man who told him to go to Surfario and started yelling at him. "You told Biran wrong directions! You say Surfario this way, but it not!"  
"S-S-Surfario _is_ that way," he stuttered.  
"Biran only going to ask this one more time." He took out the clue and used it to help phrase his question. "Ronso need to 'make way to Aquatic Garden at Surfario Ruins.' Which way Ronso go!?"  
"R-Ruins?" the man asked. "Oh! Well that's to the north."  
"Biran hate this guy," Biran whispered to Yenke. He turned his attention back to the man. "Okay, you _show_ Biran where it is or Biran is going to-"  
"Biran! No threaten people," Yenke interrupted. "Ronso only supposed to yell at other racers, camera people, and Kimahri. Not helpful man with no horn. It not his fault he howls alone."  
"Yenke acting weird today," Biran said. "But Yenke is right, again. Hornless lone-howler! Will you _please_ help Ronso find places?"  
"Certainly," the man said. "Anything to be on camera. Hi, Mom!"  
The man, at the request/demand of Biran, started to run with the Ronso following him out the north exit of Peterny.

Faris pushed at the blocks and began working on a plan to get all blocks into one area of the course to free up the rest. The plan was going well until she realized that there were a few blocks from this cluster that needed to move, but with such a large grouping of blocks, it was difficult to undo the block-knot she'd created.  
"Gar, such shame," Faris said as she put her hand in the air.

Barthello touched a block that moved onto the path of the block that always blocked them from the end. His eyes suddenly lit up as he ran back to the start, noticing that with this block in the way, he could move them out of the path. He touched the final two blocks and reached the clue at the end of the maze. As he touched it, all the blocks sank back into the floor and he walked out of the maze.  
Dona seemed completely shocked to see Barthello emerge first and ran to him to give him a hug. Unfortunately, she ran so blindly and did not notice a hole in the floor, but Barthello on the other hand, did notice. He caught her just before she fell through the deadly pit and picked her up for a hug. Ma, Fran, and Reina all seemed confused by the sudden affection they were seeing from Dona. Especially Reina, who seemed to be comparing this side of Dona to the picture on the U-Turn board.  
Barthello put Dona down and quietly read through their clue. "Make your way to Surfario."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to the new site of Surfario by making their way back through Peterny and out the western exit. You know, the way Biran and Yenke went."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Are we in first?" Barthello asked. Dona nodded and Barthello smiled. "Okay, let's find Surfario."  
"I _assume_ it's close," Dona replied. "But there is _nothing_ around here."  
"Maybe we should go back to Peterny. It isn't far. We'll ask for directions."  
"You men and asking directions," Dona mumbled. " _Fine._ Lead on, Barthello."  
Dona and Barthello walked carefully out of the Aquatic Garden to avoid any more holes in the ground. On their way out, they ran into Biran and Yenke and their guide.  
"Excuse me," Dona said to Biran's guide, being as polite as possible. "Where is Surfario?"  
"No tell!" Biran barked at his guide. "These people are hornless enemies. They try to _beat_ Ronso!"  
The man remained silent, leaving Dona and Barthello to storm off toward Peterny without knowledge of their next location.

Biran and Yenke found the U-Turn mat and were glad to see they were not the victims of this delay point. Biran found their next clue. "Roadblock: Who like playing with blocks?"  
"That Ronso all-time favorite!" Yenke said. "Yenke wants to do it!"  
"But so does Biran," Biran said. "Okay, horn-off!" The Ronso, once again, compared the length of their horns. Yenke's was still not as long as Biran's and therefore got poked in the head.  
"Yenke _will_ win one day," Yenke said.  
Biran read through his roadblock, then left to find his room of blocks. It was not quite the task he expected, but he enjoyed watching the colorful blocks slide around on their tracks nonetheless.

The final block slid out of his way as Balthier made his way to the clue. He grabbed the clue and watched the blocks sink into the floor. He exited the room and was met with a slightly disappointed Fran.  
"What?" he asked.  
"You're not the leading man anymore," she replied.  
"Somebody beat me? Hm. Fancy that." He ripped open his clue and read it to Fran. "Make your way to Surfario. Is that not where we are already?"  
"This is the ruins, remember? Hurry, we make haste back to town. We'll find Surfario from there."  
"Very well. Lead the way, Leading Lady."


	24. Episode 8, Part 3

Zone put the final chip into place and closed up the device he and Watts were working on. He gave the two-in-one motion sensor and heat sensor a quick test on Watts and found that both sensors were working properly, so they headed to the patent office to check it on the machine. Zone placed it on the table and tried to pull the handle, but was too nervous and let Watts do it. When Watts pulled the handle, the numbers did not fall upward, but instead started to climb. He and Zone high-fived and waited for the numbers to finally stop. It finally landed on 80 and the two saved their cheers for later as they both ran out of the building and headed to the Surfario Ruins they had visited not long before.  
"We should've done that one in the first place," Zone said while they ran. "Much faster."  
"Yeah, definitely," Watts replied.

Zell continued his very random strategy of running around and touching blocks quickly. He was completely out of breath, but strangely enough, by trying every permutation as quickly as possible, he finally wound up with the correct answer and took the clue. He stumbled outside and collapsed to his knees as Ma ran to him with a bottle of water ready. She handed it to him and took the clue, then read it to him as he drank the water.  
"Make your way to Surfario," she read. "Oh, Zelly. Why'd you go and push it?"  
"I didn't push it, Ma," he said. "Just gimme a second and I'll be ready." He stood up and chugged the last bit of the water. "See? All better."  
"You'd better be. We have so much more running to do!"  
"Ha ha. Don't worry, Ma. I'll still bet you'll be the next one out of breath."  
Zell and Ma left the Aquatic Garden and headed back to Peterny to find their next destination.

"Biran is _loving_ this," Biran said as she pushed the blocks around the room. He obviously had no real strategy except to touch the blocks and watch them slide away. Slowly but surely, he was figuring out the paths of the blocks, but not necessarily how he could use that information to finish the task.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
Dona and Barthello reached Peterny, but were fully aware that Balthier and Fran were right on their heels. Dona found a local to ask about Surfario.  
"We need to find Surfario and _fast_ ," she said to the local woman.  
"Take the western exit and head northwest for a while," she said. "There's a bit of a hill to go down, but it's not much."  
Dona started racing off to the western exit. Barthello followed shortly after, but paused to thank the woman before doing so. During their race to the west, they constantly checked back to Fran and Balthier, who obviously had no trust in following Dona and Barthello, as they also stopped to get directions. Dona and Barthello hoped to use this delay to their advantage to gain ground on the sky pirates.

Zone and Watts reached the Aquatic Garden for the second time, but this time, they were able to collect their clue. Watts took the clue from the box and read it to Zone. "Roadblock: Who likes to play with blocks?"  
"Both of us," Zone answered. "It really sounds like a heavy-lifting roadblock, so I think you should do it. But then again, if it's a puzzle, maybe I should. I'm so confused. I can't think under this pressure!"  
"Okay, relax. I'm decent with puzzles, too. So I'll do it, just in case."  
"Okay, good luck."  
Watts read through the clue and gave a grunt of disapproval when he found out it was a clue, but did not seem too shocked by the concept. He raced inside his puzzle room and touched the green panel to make all the blocks appear. He started slowly pushing around the blocks to figure out how this puzzle worked. Once he had a good understanding, he raised his hand to reset the puzzle and waited. As all the blocks sank into the floor to reset, he stayed away from the green restart button and began checking the floor for all the block colors and patterns to get an idea of what to do without the blocks to obstruct his view.

"Finished!" Faris shouted as she took her clue. She raced outside to join Reina, who was sitting and talking to Zone.  
"Good luck," Zone said as Reina stood up to leave.  
"You too," Reina said. "You need it more, in fact. Beat those Ronso, okay? And I'll just pray that Dona and Barthello go the wrong way." She smiled at Zone before joining Faris in reading the clue.  
"Make yer way to Surfario," Faris read. The two girls waved to Zone and headed out of the Surfario Ruins in search of the town of Surfario. They headed south to Peterny to ask for directions.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Fran and Balthier caught up to Dona and Barthello just as they found Surfario. Both teams raced for the clue box, but Fran and Balthier slowed down when they noticed a sign nearby that read "Speed Bump" and had their picture on it. They broke off from the race with Dona and Barthello to instead find out about their Speed Bump penalty.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Having been spared elimination at the end of the last leg, Fran and Balthier have now hit a Speed Bump, a task only their team must perform. In this Speed Bump, Fran and Balthier must search the Mosel Dunes nearby for three treasures. The Mosel Dunes are a vast desert that can get very hot and dehydrate people quickly, so in order to grab these treasures, they will have to stop in small, watery areas along the way to rehydrate themselves. Should they pass out from the heat, an attendant will come to assist them, but will take a treasure back from them as a fee. When they have gained all three treasures, they will be allowed to continue the race, with the hopes of making up this valuable lost time."

"Sounds wonderful," Balthier said. "At least we're used to deserts."  
"Though I hoped to avoid them," Fran replied. They searched the town for a local that knew the location of the desert.

Dona and Barthello opened their clue and Dona read it to Barthello. "Travel west through the cave and desert to find the Mosel Ruins."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel through a short cave, followed by the long expanse of the Mosel Dunes. In the middle of the Dunes is the Mosel Ruins, where they will find their next clue."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Walk through a _desert_?" Dona whined. "Barthello, I hate this race more every day."  
"I know. But Dona, we can _win_ this one," Barthello said. "We might even get a prize!"  
"We'd better."  
Dona and Barthello searched in the same fashion as Fran and Balthier. Both found locals that pointed them further west, so the two teams raced through the town and out the western exit. The cave was not far from the town and both teams entered together.  
Inside the cave was very dark. Torches lit the path through and a very obvious "NOT THIS WAY" sign blocked them from a second path in the cave, so they continued straight to an exit leading to the desert. Light streamed in brightly and both teams were required to stop and read a sign about the dangers of the desert. There was also a poorly-drawn map of the desert the showed the location of the Mosel Ruins. Barthello made note of the location as Dona whined about every one of the cautions listed.

"There! This is it!" Watts said. He touched a series of three blocks, then ran to the beginning and touched the final block. It moved from his path and he grabbed the clue, then exited the puzzle. Zone jumped to his feet and joined him to read through the clue. "Make your way to Surfario," Watts read.  
The Forest Owls headed out of the Aquatic Garden in search of Surfario. Watts explained the puzzle to Zone on the way and thanked him for the chess lessons years prior, since the maneuvers and planning reminded him so much of the game.

Fran and Balthier searched through the sand for their first treasure, but were having difficulty with the fatigue that was setting in quickly. They spotted an umbrella in the distance and made their way to it. The umbrella, they learned, marked one of the water holes where they could rest. They sat beneath the umbrella and re-hydrated themselves on some bottles of water that were provided while they stood in a shallow pond of water. The water seemed clean enough, save for the shoes that had just entered it, but for sanitary reasons, bottles of spring water were provided.  
"Did you see any treasures?" Balthier asked.  
"No, but I see something there." Fran pointed to an object in the distance, where she saw a speck of light reflecting off a treasure chest.  
"I think we can make it," Balthier said. "But tell me when you're ready. I don't need you passing out on the way back and losing our new treasure."  
"Worry about yourself. I'm a Viera. You're a-"  
"Whatever you're thinking, let's not say it. Don't want to hurt any feelings now, do we? Just say that I'm wearing more clothing and we can run to that box."  
"Right, let's go," Fran said. She left the comfort of the umbrella and headed to the shining treasure box. Balthier was right behind her.

"BIRAN DID IT!" Biran shouted as he found the clue. Yenke had heard him and was already standing and ready to run. So was their guide, at Yenke's request. Biran emerged with the clue and read it to Yenke and their new friend. "Make way to Surfario- Ronso already go there!"  
"Old man, there a shortcut?" Yenke asked.  
"I'm twenty-two," the man said.  
"How that answer to Yenke question!?"  
"Sorry. I meant to say that there isn't. Peterny is the only way. It's why Peterny is so popular."  
The Ronso started running back to Peterny with their friend. Biran and Yenke started asking him further questions about the location of the Mosel Ruins, since they already knew it to be their next location after Surfario.  
"Stock up on water in Surfario," he advised them. "Trust me; it's _hot_ out there."  
"Ronso not like hot," Yenke said. "Maybe Ronso jump into water before desert. _Lots_ of water at Surfario."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Ma and Zell reached Surfario and pulled their next clue from the box. "Travel west through the cave and desert to find the Mosel Ruins," Ma read.  
"Speed Bump is here," Zell said. "Wonder if they did it already."  
"We'll find out later, Zelly. We've got a race to win first!"  
"Good call, Ma!"

Fran and Balthier snagged their first treasure and were currently wading in another umbrella-covered pool. Both were scouting out the next treasure and decided they had to just search for it. Balthier picked a direction and the two began searching. Fatigue hit really quickly in the section of the desert they were searching for treasures in, as opposed to the trail most teams had to walk. Balthier happily spotted the next treasure box and grabbed the small token inside. He started to head back to water when he heard Fran mutter an "I...failed." and suddenly collapse.  
"That's not good," Balthier said as he rushed to her aid. Some staff gave her water and cooled her down, while another staff member demanded the new token from Balthier, which he gave without hesitation.  
"Sorry," Fran muttered as she came about her senses.  
"Not to worry. Just don't go doing that again."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Reina and Faris reached Surfario and found their next clue. Reina read it to Faris. "Travel west through the cave and desert to find the Mosel Ruins."  
"I'd much rather stay 'ere in this watery town than in a desert. 'Tis no place fer a pirate," Faris explained.  
"Not like you've never been to one, though," Reina reminded her. "Let's go."  
"Aye."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, 1 Treasure Found]  
Balthier waited for Fran to give word that she was ready, then the pair raced for a nearby treasure Balthier had spotted. He opened the chest and pulled out the token inside, then raced back to the shade with Fran.  
Both looked around to see if they could find another treasure chest, but were unable, so they headed to another nearby safety area and looked along the way. Balthier took a sudden turn to the right and opened a chest he'd spotted on the other side of a large rock. He pulled out the token and pointed for Fran to meet him at the safety location they'd started at. Both re-hydrated themselves before heading back to the starting point, where a staff member handed them a clue.  
"Congratulations. You have gone over your Speed Bump. Now return to Surfario and get your next clue," Balthier read. He and Fran wasted no time in returning as they watched Reina and Faris exit the cave and start on their own desert journey.  
"We have lost a lot of time," Fran said.  
"Indeed we have."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
Dona and Barthello finally reached the end of the desert and found the Mosel Ruins, which had a clue box sitting proudly and brightly outside the entrance. The Ruins were made of stone and built into the side of a mountain. Most of the outside of the building seemed to be crumbling apart, but it had new doors put in that gave some reassurance that somebody had reinforced the structure of the ruins.  
Barthello took the clue and read it to Dona, who seemed to have grown increasingly irritated after a walk in the desert. "Make your way inside and solve a final puzzle to unlock the Pit Stop for this leg of the race! Warning: the last team to check in may be eliminated."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now search the ruins and find a hidden staircase in the war room. To open this staircase, however, each team will have to solve one of six puzzles. The puzzles are simple. In each of the puzzles, there is a lone, black statue of either a warrior, thief, or symbologist. There are three buttons to insert either a white warrior, white thief, or white symbologist. Teams must figure out that the solution is to place a white statue beside the black one that can defeat it, leaving only the white statue, and must figure out that warrior defeats thief, thief defeats symbologist, and symbologist defeats warrior. It's like rock-paper-scissors, basically. If they insert an incorrect statue, they will be forced to return to the main hall before trying a second time. During this time, another team may complete the puzzle they worked on, forcing them to do a different one. Once they have solved the puzzle, a light on the floor will light up the path to the war room, and they will be able to enter the staircase. Down these stairs is the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here...may be eliminated."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
"I think we're in first, Dona!" Barthello said happily. "But this might be a hard puzzle."  
He and Dona headed inside the ruins and looked at a display with six statues that were divided into three groups of two. In each group, one of the statues was white and the other was black. There were three types of statues, and each was represented once in white and once in black. They were carved to look like either a warrior, a thief, or a mage. On the plaque for the statues, the mage was renamed as a "symbologist."  
They moved to the center of the display and watched as the statues came to life and began attacking each other. First, all the white statues that were paired with the lesser versions of black statues all crushed their black counterparts. Then, the statues all disappeared and reappeared with the black statues beside the lesser versions of the white statues. They crushed the white statues. The display ended there.  
"Is _that_ our clue?" Dona said. "I hope _you_ got all that."  
"I...hope so, too," Barthello said. "Let's find the puzzles. Probably one of the doors in the back."  
"You're _certainly_ taking the lead this leg. But fine. Let's do what _you_ say."  
There were two doors in the back of the room. Barthello picked the right one and led Dona through a series of hallways. The hallways all eventually led in a giant circle. At the back of this circle were six rooms labeled as "Puzzle 1" and "Puzzle 2," all the way to "Puzzle 6." Having gone counterclockwise, they came up to Puzzle 6 first.  
Barthello, always the gentleman, opened the door for Dona to enter first. After she entered, he followed her in. Inside was a black statue of a warrior. There was an empty pedestal next to the statue and three buttons on a panel directly in front of the empty pedestal. The buttons said "Warrior," "Thief," and "Symbologist."  
"I...don't know," Barthello said. "Any ideas?"  
"One-in-three chance, I suppose," Dona said. "Pick one, Barthello."  
"Yes, ma'am," he said. He closed his eyes and pressed at the panel. His initial attempt missed all buttons, but Dona helped guide his hand to the pad, where he pressed the button for "Symbologist." A white symbologist appeared and shot the black statue with a lightning bolt. After doing so, the black statue disappeared and the white remained.  
A line lit up on the floor, leading them out of the room and down the hall to the war room. They shrugged and followed the path into a room in the center of the ruins. Inside, there was a large, stone table with several chairs surrounding it. Way in the corner, where the line of light led Dona and Barthello, was a staircase into the basement of the ruins. They walked down them and saw Gippal standing beside a fit, blonde man in black. They walked up to the mat and stepped on.  
"Welcome to the Ruins of Mosel in Elicoor II," the man, Cliff, said in a Sylvester Stallone accent.  
"Dona and Barthello," Gippal said, "you are the first team to arrive. However..."  
Barthello and Dona had already started to rejoice, but stopped immediately with the "however." They now waited silently for Gippal to continue.  
"Naw, I'm just kiddin'," Gippal said. "You two are team number _one_!"  
Dona tried to hurt Gippal at all costs, but was unable since apparently Barthello wanted a hug and had picked her up off her feet. She calmed her anger and happily hugged Barthello back. She even threw in a quick peck on the cheek, which made the muscleman go weak in the knees as Dona slid out of his grasp.  
"As the winners of this leg of the race, you've both won a trip for two to Costa Del Sol in the _Fantasy 7_ verse, courtesy of Rin's Travel Agency, which you can enjoy after the race."  
"Thank you _so_ much, Gippal," Barthello said.  
"You thought you did something bad at the detour, didn't you?"  
Barthello nodded. Dona, however, did not.  
"Well, it certainly wasn't _nice,_ but it wasn't against the rules. So enjoy your first win, you two. This _is_ the last time you'll win, right?" Gippal joked.  
"Of course not, Gippal," Barthello replied. "We're due at _least_ one more, right at the end."  
"Oh can it, Barthello," Dona said. "I need some off-camera time with _you._ "  
" _That_ sounds good," Gippal commented.  
"It...might be," Barthello replied. "It could go either way."

Ma and Zell reached the clue box at the Mosel Ruins and both wiped their foreheads. Zell pulled a clue from the box and read the information about the puzzle and the Pit Stop to Ma. They walked inside the ruins and watched the display of the statues attacking each other and both tried their best to figure out what was happening.

Zone and Watts raced for Surfario at top speed after noticing the Ronso were closing in on them. They were unable to beat the speedy Ronso in a footrace, however, as the Ronso stole the lead from them at the last second. But instead of grabbing a clue, both Ronso cannon-balled into the river beneath the bridge-based city of Surfario. Zone and Watts braced for the splash to hit them, then shrugged and took their next clue.  
"Travel west through the cave and desert to find the Mosel Ruins," Zone read.  
"Okay, west is that way." Watts pointed to the west. "Let's hurry!"  
The boys headed west while the Ronso crawled from the water. Yenke opened the clue box, but Biran punched him in the back when he did so.  
"Ronso already _have_ this clue," Biran said. "It tell us to travel west to Ruins!"  
"I...won't go with you to the ruins," their guide told them. "I really have to get back to my job. When we walked back through town, I saw somebody robbing my wife. I should help her. Oh, but before I forget! There's a puzzle there I've heard of. It's something along the lines of rock-paper-scissors. Be prepared. It seems this race you're on likes puzzles."  
"Ronso thank helpful human," Biran said. "If Biran had extra horn to give to human, he would put it right in helpful human's head."  
"Oh. Thanks."  
"As thanks for helping, Ronso will now sing Hymn of Fayth to you." Both Ronso began clearing their throats, but the man frantically waved his hands to object.  
"Oh no no no no no. I couldn't hold you up like that. Gotta go-bye!" He ran off toward Peterny as the Ronso headed west to the cave. Coming in the opposite direction was Fran, followed closely by Balthier. The Ronso ran past them, leaving Fran and Balthier to shield themselves from the water dripping off the hairy Ronso.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in Last Place]  
"I've no doubt we're in last now," Balthier said. He grabbed a clue and read it. "Travel west through the cave and desert to find the Mosel Ruins."  
Fran and Balthier headed west, right back to the desert they were just in. Neither seemed pleased about it, but they were in much too big a hurry to care much about where the race was sending them.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Reina and Faris panted as they found the ruins and took their clue. Reina read the clue to Faris before they headed inside to look at the display of statues fighting.

Ma and Zell found Puzzle Room 1 and entered. There, they found a statue of a black symbologist. They looked at each other, then at the panel of three options.  
"Any guesses?" Zell asked.  
"What are we supposed to do?" Ma asked.  
"Beats me. Push a button, Ma. Then, if it's wrong, we'll go to the big statue display and come back here. If we keep getting the same puzzle room with the same puzzle, then we're _bound_ to guess the answer eventually!"  
"Okay, then I'll push...this one!" Ma pushed the button for thief. A white thief statue appeared and quickly slashed at the symbologist. The black statue fell and a line on the floor lit up that led to the war room.  
"We did it?" Ma asked.  
 _"You did it, Ma!"_ Zell cheered happily. He tossed his and Ma's backpacks outside their puzzle room and picked Ma up piggyback-style and carried her all the way to the war room and down the stairs to the Pit Stop, where he put her down to be properly greeted.  
"You look excited," Gippal said. "Ma and Zell...you're team number two!"  
"Ye-aww," Zell moaned, though he still seemed excited. "I thought we were first."  
"Another puzzle room had the 'done' light, Zelly," Ma explained.  
"Oh yeah? I didn't see that. Nuts. But oh well, I'm still _pumped!_ I have the best ma in the world!"  
"Aww, Zelly. You're too much sometimes," Ma said with a smile and a tear in her eye.

Reina and Faris entered the first available puzzle room, which, for them, was Puzzle Room 5, since they had walked through counterclockwise. There they encountered a statue of a black symbologist.  
"What d'ye think of this?" Faris asked.  
"About all I can think is that we probably need to put in a white statue that'll break this one and let us through," Reina replied. "But I wasn't looking closely enough at the statue types. I think we should go back and look."  
"Aye, but be thar a penalty fer guessing?"  
"Not that I read," Reina said. She pulled out the clue and skimmed it once more. "Nope, we can guess."  
"We'll try this one, then," Faris said. She kicked the buttons and her foot collided with the button for symbologist. A white symbologist statue appeared and they both blasted each other apart with magic. The black statue reappeared shortly after. "Okay, back ter the hall."  
The girls left the puzzle room and headed back to find the main hall to watch the statues battle again.

"Hornless human mention rock-paper-scissors," Biran said. He and Yenke were running very quickly through the desert. They were so engaged in their conversation, they didn't even notice as they ran right past Zone and Watts. The water soaking their fur was evaporating very quickly. "Biran not know what rock-paper-scissors mean."  
"Oh! Yenke thinks Yenke knows!" Yenke said proudly. "Rock-paper-scissors like Ronso game: Guado-Yevon-Al Bhed! Al Bhed beat Yevon, Yevon beat Guado, Guado beat Al Bhed!" He paired all these names with hand symbols that were intented to represent each group. None of them made any sense as to why they respresented what they did. "Only, this game not have Ronso."  
"Ohh, no Ronso." Biran paired it with a symbol, which was a pointed hand. It obviously represented a horn. "Biran always pick Ronso."  
"Yenke, too. But sometimes, Yenke try to trick Biran and pick Guado!"  
"That why Yenke lose. Yenke stupid."

Reina and Faris entered the main hall and started watching the demonstration a second time. They made note of their black symbologist statue. At first, a white thief appeared next to it and cut it down. Then, the statues all reset and the black symbologist reappeared beside a white warrior statue, which was struck down by the symbologist.  
"I'm not sure," Reina said. "Do we want to put it against something it beats? Or something that beats it?"  
"Can't say fer sure, but if we think o' this statue as a guardian, then we'd want to take 'er out, right?" Faris replied.  
"Okay, let's use the white thief!"  
Reina and Faris left for the puzzle room.

Zone started to stumble a bit as he walked through the desert. He finally called out to Watts, who was a few steps ahead of him. He took off his backpack and grabbed a water bottle from inside. He chugged it quickly and poured the last little bit of it on his face.  
"Yeah, it's rough out here," Watts said. "But we've gotta hurry." He watched Fran and Balthier jog past them as he helped Zone to his feet. Despite being behind, neither was capable of much more than a brisk walk. Both were exhausted and completely out of breath.

Reina and Faris entered their puzzle room and quickly pushed the "thief" button. The path to the war room lit up and the girls celebrated quickly before following the line down to the Pit Stop. Both hopped on the mat and waited for Gippal.  
"Reina and Faris," he said, "you're team number three!"  
"We c'n take that!" Faris said happily. "Live ter fight another day."  
"Where are we off to next, Gippal?" Reina asked.  
Gippal laughed. "I'll let you know in about twelve hours."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 4th Place]  
Biran and Yenke reached the ruins and found their next clue. They stood for a while, reading through their clue, trying to figure out the intricacies of the puzzle. Both were completely dry upon reaching the clue box and both seemed eager to get out of the heat. They walked inside and admired the large display of statues. Both seemed highly confused about what they were watching.  
"Biran knows!" Biran said. He pointed to each of the statues as he spoke. "One with sword beat one with smaller sword, but not beat old man. Old man beat one with sword, but not beat short sword. It like our friend said!"  
"So what is puzzle?" Yenke asked. He pointed to each of the statues. "Yenke will just remember that old man is like Yevon, because Yevon is old. Long sword man is like Guado, with their long, dumb hands. And little sword man is like Al Bhed, because nobody remember Al Bhed, and Yenke not going to remember little sword man with his insuperior sword. It like Ronso with short horn: outcast."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 5th Place]  
Fran reached the ruins just ahead of Balthier, who seemed to be in need of a breather. Fran took the clue from the box and read it while Balthier got some water from his bag.  
"A puzzle? Wonderful," Balthier said. "Like I haven't had enough of _those_ today."  
"We must hurry," Fran said. She watched Zone and Watts walking to the ruins, having not passed them long ago.  
"And no doubt they'll be good at puzzles."  
The pair ran inside to look at the statues just as the Ronso had made their way to one of the back puzzle rooms.

[Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in Last Place]  
Watts ran ahead and grabbed the clue. He read the details of the puzzle as quickly as he could to Zone before they headed inside. The demonstration had only barely begun for Fran and Balthier, so the Forest Owls joined them in watching.  
The demonstration cycled once and began its second cycle when Balthier suddenly spoke. "Ah, I get it now. Come on, Fran."  
He and Fran ran out of the main room and down one of the back corridors. When they were behind a door and out of earshot of Watts and Zone, Fran finally asked Balthier about the solution. "So what _is_ the solution?" she asked.  
"I'm actually not a hundred percent," he replied. "I just know my best bet is to fluster those other two. They'll solve the puzzle quickly unless they feel the pressure. I doubt they'll go home, though, if those Ronso have anything to say about it."  
"Speaking ill of others tends to lead to disaster. Mind your tongue."  
"Suppose you're right. My apologies."

Biran and Yenke looked at the black warrior statue and pondered it for a while. "So Ronso need to break black statue," Biran said. He stood on the pedestal ahead of him and attempted to punch the statue himself, but to no avail. He returned to his position next to Yenke and thought some more. "What was long sword again?"  
"Long sword like dumb, long Guado hands," Yenke replied.  
"Ohh, right. So Guado are beaten by Yevon. Also by Ronso. . . . Who Yevon again?"  
"Yevon led by old people, so Yevon is old."  
Biran looked at the panel, which read "Warrior, Thief, Symbologist" with a button beside each word. "So..."  
"Yenke not know! Yenke know symbology is hard class though, so Yenke says that one!" And with that, he jammed his fist onto the symbologist button and created a white symbologist. It blasted the black warrior apart and lit up their path to the finish.  
"Good Yenke!" Biran cheered. "Hurry, Ronso follow line!"

"This isn't good," Zone mumbled. His stomach was obviously irritating him, but he stayed on his feet to watch the statues cycle through their second demonstration. "They _know_ how to solve it!"  
"Wait, I think I do, too," Watts replied. "Look. The warrior is rock, the thief is scissors, and the mage is paper! It's rock-paper-scissors!"  
"You're right! Gah, hurry!"

"Biran and Yenke," Gippal said after the Ronso had hopped onto the mat, "you're team number four!"  
"Ronso do awesome! Better every day!" Biran said. "And not be able to do it without Yenke. He very smart today. Biran thinks his horn must have grown. Still not bigger than Biran horn, but bigger."  
"You best friend Ronso could have," Yenke said, pulling Biran in for a hug.  
Gippal looked at Cliff and grinned. They both slowly backed away from the mat for a moment to give the Ronso some space. "Awkward," Gippal whispered to Cliff.

Balthier and Fran stepped into one of the two remaining puzzle rooms. Inside was a black statue of a thief.  
"Any guesses?" Balthier asked.  
"The statues in the main hall," Fran said. "They fought. I assume we must provide a statue with these controls."  
"To defend? Or attack?"  
"It is...vague."  
"That it is," Balthier said. "Well, let's assume attack, shall we? All those statues do is destroy each other, so I assume the first to do so wins. So we must defeat a statue of a thief. How?"

"In here!" Zone said. He led Watts into the room and found that they, too, faced a black thief as their opponent.  
"Thief was scissors, so they're beaten by rock, which was..." Watts trailed off.  
"Warrior!" Zone shouted. He jammed on the button and watched as the white warrior defeated the black thief. "YES!"  
The pair stepped outside and began to follow the bright line.  
When they were no more than two steps out the door, both were taken off-guard by the third puzzle room's line lighting up. The door to the Puzzle Room 3 opened and Balthier stepped outside. He and Watts caught each other's stare. With no words spoken, all hell broke loose. Everybody, including Fran, who had only barely seen their situation, tossed their bags aside and broke into a sprint to the war room. Watts kept the lead all the way to the war room, but lost time by having to open the door himself.  
He pushed it open and sprinted left around the large table in the center of the room. Balthier had caught up with Zone and was in a dead heat with him while Fran lagged behind by a single step. She chose her own route: over the table. All four raced as fast as they could run to the stairwell in the corner of the room. It was wide enough for all four to run side-by-side, which was necessary since all reached it at approximately the same time. Fran's shortcut paid off, as she now led the pack, followed closely by Watts.  
Fran made a final jump to the mat, skipping the last four steps altogether. She landed on the mat first and looked behind her desperately to see who'd won. She was unable to tell, however, as all three had touched the mat in the time it took her to turn her head.  
"...Oh man," Gippal said. He looked at all four racers as they gasped for air. "Fran, you were here first. Watts, you were second."  
"And us?" Balthier asked of he and Zone.  
"I need a moment." Gippal pulled Cliff aside to discuss in private. All four tried their best to listen to their distant whisperings.  
"You can hear them, can't you?" Balthier asked Fran.  
"My ears are sharp. Yes, I can hear," she replied. Her face remained emotionless.  
" _And!?_ " Watts asked her.  
"You'll see."  
Gippal and Cliff returned to the mat. Cliff was the first to speak.  
"Welcome to the Ruins of Mosel in Elicoor II," he said.  
"I'm planning to milk this, you know," Gippal said. "If we can go to commercial, that'd be great. Right here."  
"Fran already knows," Watts told Gippal.  
"Oh, really?" he asked. She nodded.  
"Lame. Well, okay. But I'm still going to milk it. Team number five is," Gippal paused for what seemed to the teams like an eternity, "Fran and Balthier."  
"No," Zone mumbled.  
"Zone and Watts, that means you are the last team to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you, you have been eliminated from the race."  
"Good race," Watts said, offering a handshake to Fran. She accepted it as Balthier shook Zone's hand, as well.  
Fran and Balthier stepped away from the mat and walked down a hallway to join the other teams. The boys at the mat could hear Fran's voice echo in the underground passage as she mocked Balthier. "Third place in a footrace? Some leading man."  
"It's for dramatic purposes, of course," he replied.  
"Staying off the radar didn't work, did it?" Gippal asked.  
"We weren't off the radar," Watts replied. "Not at all."  
"We were fooling ourselves to think so," Zone said. "But the strategy was solid. Our execution was just terrible."  
"That's the Forest Owl way. We'll stick to coming up with plans. Leave the physicality to the rest of the world."  
"This is hardly a defeat to be sad about," Gippal said. "You lost by a couple milliseconds. And to a really good team."  
"We're not sad," Watts said. "I'm not, anyway. It was great racing with Zone. Wouldn't have wanted a different person by my side this whole way. Not in a million years."  
"Besides, we won some killer marbles!" Zone said sarcastically.  
"That's a hell of a bright side," Watts said. "When we get home, we're playing a game. And you're going down."  
"Bring it on."


	25. Episode 9, Part 1

Gippal approached the camera while standing in a stone hallway. His voice echoed as he spoke. "These are the Ancient Ruins of Mosel. They are feared for their connection to a strange culture of advanced mechanics and futuristic technology, but now they are only feared for being the dreaded eigth pitstop in a race around worlds. I...suppose. Zone and Watts fear them anyway, as they were eliminated in this very spot. But I'm getting ahead of myself.  
"Teams raced from Arias and entered the famous trade city of Peterny. Teams either invented items or sorted through previous inventions at the detour, where Dona and Barthello grabbed an item Reina and Faris intended to use, which not only pushed Dona and Barthello ahead, but caused a delay to Reina and Faris. Continuing their domination of this leg, Dona and Barthello reached the roadblock in only third place, but due to some extreme luck, Barthello completed the difficult puzzle and left in first. Fran and Balthier ran a great leg, but lost a lot of precious time during their Speed Bump, which they received after losing the previous non-elimination leg. In a desparate race to the finish that came down to less than a second's difference, Fran and Balthier barely edged out Zone and Watts, who as I mentioned earlier, were the seventh team eliminated from the race.  
"Now, can Dona and Barthello maintain their lead and newfound amazing racing abilities? Will Reina and Faris be okay without their pseudo-alliance? And now that they are without a Speed Bump, will Fran and Balthier be able to take back a top position? Or will their recent string of low finishes continue and take them out of the race? Dona and Barthello, who were first to arrive at 3:14 pm, will depart at 3:14 am."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, 1st to Depart: 3:14 am]  
Dona smiled like she had never smiled before as Barthello opened up the clue. She clutched his arm as he read to her.  
"Find and enter the mystical portal in the ruins and teleport to a mystery location. Prepare for the ride of your lives."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now walk a short distance to a portal believed to hold mystical properties. Once through the portal, teams will- Actually, I'd rather not spoil the surprise. Ride of their lives is right though. Wheehaw!"

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Ride of our lives?" Dona said. "I do _not_ like the sound of that."  
"I'll keep you safe," Barthello reminded her. He resumed the reading of the clue. "Teams will have 20 gil for this leg of the race."  
"I'm _so_ glad to hear the word 'gil' again, but only twenty?"  
Barthello shrugged. He and Dona began to wander the corridor of the Ruins of Mosel dungeon. It was not long until they found a strange, technologically advanced control panel near a wall made of one large slab of stone. The stone had a very precise crack down the middle.  
Luckily for Barthello, the control panel only had one button. He pressed it and the two halves of stone slid to either side, revealing a blue vortex. The two entered and shortly after found themselves in a strange spaceship. The walls and floor were all a steel material on this very bland ship. In front of them were large plates of glass that overlooked outer space. From this ship, they could see a new world not too far from them.  
" _That_ was our ride?" Dona asked. " _Please._ I've had better rides on a shoopuf."  
Barthello pointed to a sign nearby that read "Prepare yourself" and had an arrow pointed beside it to a green teleporter on the floor. It was a small teleporter that swirled around, waiting for two people to stand on it. Three, if you counted the cameraman.  
" _Wonderful._ " Dona replied. She walked to the teleporter and stood on it. Barthello joined her.  
The teleporter did not respond right away. Then, suddenly, they disappeared and reappeared in what seemed to be a very rocky cave. The floor rumbled and both lost their balance immediately.  
"What's going on?" Dona demanded of Barthello. She looked around for an exit, but was unable to locate one.  
Barthello found a safety guide on the wall nearby. It was labeled "Meteor Safety." Barthello read the title to himself, leaving a very disturbed Dona to eavesdrop.  
"WHAT?!" Dona shouted. She jumped to her feet, but promptly fell down. Luckily for her, Barthello caught her in his lap. "We're in a _meteor!?_ "

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 2nd to Depart: 3:35 am]  
Zell ripped open the clue. "Find and enter the mystical portal in the ruins and teleport to a mystery location. Prepare for the ride of your lives. Teams will have 20 gil for this leg of the race."  
"Sounds exciting," Ma replied.  
"Yeah. Too bad all the teams left are pretty brave and stuff. I don't think any of us five teams will back down from...whatever a 'ride of our lives' is."  
The Dinchts searched the ruins and found the stone entrance, which teleported them to the spaceship. They looked out at space and both started smiling wildly. Zell also started jumping around like a madman. "I've always _wanted_ to go to space! I never got a chance to before this! Squall went, but did Zell go? Noooo-"  
"Zelly, you're rambling."  
"Oh, sorry, Ma," Zell said.  
He and Ma walked to the green teleporter and stood on it. They waited for a split second before being teleported to a meteor of their own. They, like Dona and Barthello, immediately fell over.  
"Look, Ma!" Zell said, pointing to the safety guide. "We're in a meteor!"  
"My goodness!" she exclaimed. "This really is an exciting ride! So what happens next?"  
"According to this guide," Zell said while quickly skimming the safety guide, "it'll crash into the planet below at very intense speeds."  
"Zelly, you might have to bear with your mother for a moment. She is, apparently, hard of hearing. Did you say 'crash'?"  
Zell noticed a small screen in the corner with a countdown. It was at 00:35:05 and ticking down. Directly under the countdown was a sign reading "Time until impact." He pointed it out to Ma.  
"Maybe this race wasn't such a good idea," she said nervously.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
The counter on Dona and Barthello's meteor was at 00:00:09 and Dona was trying to keep her cool, but desperately seeking some sort of comfort. Barthello finally reached an arm out and pulled her in tightly. She pretended to struggle, but put up very little fight as the timer hit zero and the meteor landed. The impact inside the meteor was almost non-existant. Barthello released Dona from his protective grip and stood up, then helped Dona to her feet.  
An exit to the meteor suddenly appeared in a door-like form. They headed outside and found the clue box just a few meters beyond the steaming meteor crash site. The area where they had crashed was a large plains, but only a short distance later was a forest.  
Barthello took the clue and read it to Dona. "Search the forest for Mirage Town, then search the town for a hidden chocobo corral."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams have landed in the _Fantasy 5_ verse near a mystical town created by a void. The town is hard to find, since you don't even notice it until you set foot within it. Once they find it, they must search the town for a hidden passage to the chocobo corral to receive their next clue.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
"We have to find a hidden city at night. . . ." Dona mumbled. " _Wonderful._ "  
Dona and Barthello entered the forest and began searching around. There was a faint, trampled foot-path, but it broke off in several directions. Dona and Barthello picked one of them, shining their flashlights along the paths, and followed it.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 3rd to Depart: 4:02 am]  
Reina ripped open the clue and read it to Faris. "Find and enter the mystical portal in the ruins and teleport to a mystery location. Prepare for the ride of your lives. Teams will have 20 gil for this leg of the race."  
The sisters walked through the corridor and found the teleporter. After teleporting to the ship, they immediately made their way to the teleporter and were teleported into their own meteor.  
"This be familiar," Faris noted after both had fallen over. "We're not goin' ter- I dare not say. I won't be the one ter jinx it."  
"I'm hoping so, too," Reina replied. "It's about time we won another leg." She winked at Faris, who pinched her in return.  
"That's fer jinxin' us!"

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"Here it comes," Zell said, watching the countdown closely. It hit zero as both Dincht's braced for impact. They also both screamed. When the impact was little more than a nudge, both looked to each other with embarrassment, said nothing, and left the meteor.  
Ma found the clue box and grabbed their clue to read to Zell. "Search the forest for Mirage Town, then search the town for a hidden chocobo corral."  
"I'm all over this, Ma! I can sniff out a chocobo from miles away!"  
"Really? That's amazing! SeeD training I take it?"  
Zell scratched his head. "Err, well...I'm actually just trying to talk big. For confidence. I always like to do it to prepare for something tough."  
"Oh, well, that's okay, Zelly! You didn't get that from me though. I'm a worrywart!"  
Zell took a couple flashlight headbands out of his backpack. He stuck one on himself and tossed the other to Ma. She fumbled and eventually dropped the light, but put it on after a quick dusting. They made their way to the forest to begin looking for the town.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, 4th to Depart: 4:34 am]  
Biran tore open the clue and read it to Yenke. "Find and enter mystical portal in ruins and teleport to mystery location. Prepare for ride of your Ronso lives. Teams have 20 gil for leg of race!"  
The Ronso navigated the corridor and followed the two teleporters to the meteor. Neither Ronso even seemed to notice the beautiful view of outer space when they walked to the second teleporter.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
The forest seemed endless as Dona and Barthello walked in no particular direction, hoping to stumble across some city. It was only when Dona was ready to start whining about the forest when a town suddenly formed around them. They were suddenly in an grass field. A building was to their right and a staircase leading to the majority of the town not far beyond that. Perhaps the most awkward thing about this town was that it was daylight. Both Dona and Barthello turned off their flashlights and put them away.  
"I don't see a chocobo corral _anywhere_ ," Dona said.  
"But, listen closely, Dona," Barthello said. In the distance, they could hear a faint _wark_. "Let's search carefully."  
They followed the stairs and found the pub, a magic store, and an armor store. The town was odd because they could see more places to go, but only a few buildings they could actually get to. The rest were blocked off, and yet, it was possible to see people using the distant weapon store.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Last to Depart: 4:41 am]  
Fran opened the clue. "Find and enter the mystical portal in the ruins and teleport to a mystery location. Prepare for the ride of your lives. Teams will have 20 gil for this leg of the race."  
"I'm not terribly fond of starting in last again," Balthier said.  
"Then let's not do it again," Fran said.  
The sky pirates followed the corridor to the teleporter and traveled through. Both stopped for a second to stare at the vast space view. Fran seemed eager to move on, but Balthier was intent on staring at the magnificent view. He tore himself away after a few seconds and followed Fran to the teleporter.  
"Sorry. Not everyday you get a view like _that_ though," he said.  
"Not everyday you win money like this game offers, either," Fran replied before they teleported away to their meteor.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Ma and Zell reached the town and were both in awe when the town appeared around them. They asked around for directions to the corral, but nobody seemed to know what they were talking about. They finally wandered into the pub to get information and found Dona and Barthello, who were doing the exact same thing.  
"Chocobos, eh?" the bartender said to Dona. "Hmm. Can't say I know where they are, but I do hear 'em occasionally. Somewhere behind the pub, by the sounds of it."  
" _Please_ speak quieter," Dona insisted. "Another team is here. We don't want them to hear."  
"Yeah, no prob. Listen, if you're really wanting to find the chocobos, why don't you hop over to this side of the bar and use my hidden staircase? It'll lead you to another section of the town."  
Dona looked over to Zell and Ma, who were both casually sitting at the bar with an ear facing Dona and the bartender. As subtle as they tried to make their eavesdropping, it was very obvious. Dona pulled Barthello aside.  
"Is there _any_ way we can make them not follow us?" she asked him quietly.  
"No," Barthello said. "I think we should do the opposite."  
"The opposite?"  
"Tell them what we're doing. Pretend to be allies to get information from them later."  
"That's dumb," Dona said. "But okay. _You_ tell them though. They'll never believe me."  
Barthello nodded, then waved Zell and Ma over. When they arrived, he explained to them about the secret staircase. "You'll owe us one, though," he added.  
"Yeah, you bet," Zell replied. He started to hop the counter when the bartender stopped him.  
"Whoa whoa whoa!" he said. "Please, footprints on the counter are hard to get out. Can you use the backdoor?" he pointed to another door behind the counter that led outside. The four racers agreed, then raced outside and around to the back entrance to the pub. They came in and raced down the stairs in the back of the pub and traveled a short distance to another building.  
"This doesn't _look_ like a chocobo corral," Dona said.  
"This town is quite a maze," Ma replied.  
Barthello held the door open for the other three, then followed them inside. They ran through to a staircase to a basement with narrow hallways. They raced around a turn and found a door and a hallway that continued around a corner. Zell quickly grabbed for the door, but it was locked. They continued down the hallway, which led them to a staircase that took them into an armory, only it was behind the counter of the armory.  
"There a chocobo corral here?" Zell asked the armory employee.  
"Not this way, nope," he replied. "Little tip though. This is _Mirage_ Town. Not everything is what it seems. Check the passages really well."  
"We'll do that, thanks!"  
They headed back down to the basement and started looking around. They stopped at the locked door and tried to open it again, thinking this was what the armory employee meant.  
"Do you hear that?" Ma said, backing away from the door that Zell and Barthello were brutally trying to pry open.  
"Sounds like a piano," Dona said. "Coming through...the wall?"  
Dona and Ma walked in the direction of the music, where they met with what seemed to be a solid wall; but, when Dona reached out a hand, it slipped right through the wall.  
"A fake wall," Zell said. "That _must_ be the way then!"  
Ma and Dona started to slowly walk through the wall, but Zell ended up taking the lead since he didn't seem to mind running through a blind corridor. They eventually found a staircase that led up. Zell and Ma were the first to take it and they soon found themselves in a grass pasture that was blocked off by trees and a gate. Inside the pasture was a field of black and yellow chocobos. Just before the large pasture of chocobos was a clue box.  
Zell was first to the box and took the first clue, but handed it to Dona. "As thanks for helping us at the pub, you can have the first clue," he added.  
"Whatever," Dona said. She took the clue and read it to Barthello. "Roadblock: Who's ready to take a ride around the world?"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this roadblock, that team member must first choose a yellow chocobo. Then, ride that chocobo around the entire world. The world is small and because it has merged with another world, it is possible to ride a non-flying chocobo around the entire map, roughly. Teams can decide whether they would like to travel clockwise or counterclockwise. It will require a keen eye to find passages that a yellow chocobo can take and may require a fair amount of patience."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
"If it's just a ride, then it sounds easy. We'll save _you_ for the harder roadblocks," Dona said to Barthello. "I'll do it."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"May I?" Ma asked.  
"All yours, Ma!" Zell replied.

Ma and Dona headed out to the pasture and each found a yellow chocobo. Dona seemed a bit more confident on a chocobo and was the first out the gate. She headed east and, once out of Mirage Town, was quickly reminded that it was still dark outside. Ma came to the same realization as she started to catch up to Dona. She pulled out a flashlight headband and put it on before continuing on. Dona did the same.  
They started riding slowly along the narrow strip of land with water on both sides of them. Their chocobos occasionally stepped a foot into the shallow waters and started warking. Dona seemed irritated that Ma was apparently trying to go the trip alongside her, but was biting her tongue.

-{Ma: Interview}-

Ma sat on an unidentifiable bench in a sunny location. She was alone.  
"There was really very little point in riding our chocobos at that time of day. We could barely see anything. I was trying to keep up with Dona so we would have two flashlights watching the road, but even that much light wasn't enough. It was mostly us just trying to keep any sort of lead on the other teams and waiting for the sun before the roadblock _really_ began."

-{End Interview}-

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 3rd Place]  
The sisters crashed down in their meteor and raced out to the clue box. Reina grabbed the clue and read it to Faris. "Search the forest for Mirage Town, then search the town for a hidden chocobo corral."  
"We were right!" Faris cheered. "We be home. This leg be as good as ours!"  
"I know exactly where that chocobo corral is," Reina said. "Let's go!"  
The girls searched the forest and found Mirage Town with little difficulty. They immediately raced for the back entrance to the pub and ran through the secret wall to the chocobo corral. Faris seemed a _bit_ lost, but Reina was leading the way with no difficulty.

-{Reina & Faris: Interview}-

Reina and Faris sat in a grassy area in front of a stone wall, addressing the camera.  
"Bein' back home gave us a great sense o' victory," Faris said. "I wasn't thrilled when I heard 'bout the chocobos since I couldn't remember that hidden city that well, but Reina never fergets an animal. She knew right where it were, so I just followed and hoped I could make up fer it with some pirate ship drivin' er somethin'."

-{End Interview}-

Reina and Faris found the clue box in front of the chocobo corral. Reina was still very hyper and beat Faris to the box. She opened their clue and smiled very happily when she saw the roadblock card. "Oh please please please!" she begged Faris.  
"Gonna even read the description?" Faris asked.  
Reina shook her head. "It doesn't matter. It's gonna be something with _chocobos_!"  
Faris laughed. "Okay. Go fer it."  
Reina cheered and hugged Faris. She eventually read the clue and chose her chocobo before leaving on her quest around the world. She, unlike Dona and Ma, chose to go west and take the clockwise route around the world.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 4th Place]  
Biran and Yenke came out of their meteor slowly and looked around nervously.  
"Where Ronso _now_?" Yenke asked.  
"Biran not know," Biran replied. "But Biran is scared. Maybe on world of aliens!"  
"Yenke hopes not." Yenke took the clue from the box and read it to Biran. "Search forest for Mirage Town. Then search town for hiding chocobo coral."  
"Coral like in waters?"  
"That what it say!"  
"Give Biran clue!" Biran grabbed the clue away from Yenke and read it. "That not say coral! That say...something else!" Biran pondered the word for a quick moment. "Well, it probably _pronounced_ same as coral, but not same thing. Because chocobo coral not make sense!"  
"Yenke go search forest," Yenke said. He walked to the forest with Biran. Both fumbled around in the dark as they found their handheld flashlights.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in Last Place]  
"Quite a ride," Balthier said, stepping out of the meteor. He helped Fran out, then grabbed the next clue. "Search the forest for Mirage Town, then search the town for a hidden chocobo corral." He turned to Fran. "I don't suppose the forest can talk to you here."  
"Unfortunately, no," she replied. She pulled out a couple headband flashlights and handed one to Balthier. Both put them on before continuing on to search the forest.

Dona and Ma continued side-by-side on their chocobo ride around the world. The sun started to come over the mountains as the women clicked off their flashlights and rode by sunlight.  
"This'll make things easier," Ma said to Dona. "Good luck!" With that, Ma rode her chocobo faster and left Dona behind.  
"Oh _hell_ no," Dona said to herself. She made her chocobo speed up as well, but struggled to stay on the bouncing chocobo, so she was forced to slow down. She cursed under her breath as she watched Ma speed on ahead.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 4th Place]  
Biran and Yenke found Mirage Town and searched for the chocobos, but after searching what they thought was the entire town, they were horribly lost. And the locals were of little help since they had no idea what a "chocobo coral" was. They watched as Fran and Balthier entered the town and began searching.  
Yenke seemed fixated on watching Fran and Balthier search, not noticing Biran had struck up a conversation with a local.  
"Chocobo coral?" the man asked Biran. "Ohh, you must mean the coral rings! Just go to the armory and search the room for a hidden passage to the back area. They sell them there."  
"Yenke!" Biran shouted, startling him. "We looking for coral _rings_?"  
"Yenke not think so, but Yenke not sure," he replied.  
With that, both Ronso entered the armory and searched for "chocobo coral." It didn't take long, however, for them to realize they were in the wrong place. They walked outside and watched Fran and Balthier enter the pub from a rear entrance.  
"What you think?" Biran asked. "Nobody has chocobo coral! Only coral ring!"  
The Ronso paused for a short while when, suddenly, Yenke made a keen observation.  
"Rabbit-lady and fancy-man not leave bar," he said. "Not come out yet. Maybe something in bar that Ronso missed?"  
"Good think, Yenke." Biran and Yenke entered the pub and, sure enough, Fran and Balthier were not there. Biran flagged down the bartender.  
"Where lady with rabbit ears go?" he asked.  
"Ah, just head outside, find the back entrance here, and down the stairs," the bartender replied. "Seems a popular destination today."  
"Why not tell Ronso earlier!?" Biran shouted. He took a couple deep breaths and calmed down. "Biran means: thank you, hornless-one." He and Yenke exited the building and ran to the back entrance to search for the chocobos.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 4th Place]  
Fran and Balthier walked up the stairs and into the chocobo corral. Fran took the clue and read it. "Roadblock: Who's ready to take a ride around the world?"  
"Well, it _should_ be my turn, what with my roadblock count being lower," Balthier said. "But why don't you have a go?" He motioned to Zell, Barthello, and Faris, who were waiting for their partners. "Seems it's a lady's game."  
"Very well." Fran picked a yellow chocobo and began riding to the east.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place]  
Biran and Yenke finally reached the corral and grabbed their clue. Biran read it to Yenke. "Roadblock: Who ready to take ride around world?"  
"It Yenke's turn," Yenke said. He found a chocobo and started his ride to the east.  
Biran joined Zell, Barthello, Faris, and Balthier in waiting for the racers. They sat in a grassy area just outside the chocobo corral and watched the remaining black chocobos walk around inside it.  
"Race sure is getting intense," Balthier noted. "Honestly, this is not the group I expected to be in the final five with me, but after seeing how strong you all are, I feel I've greatly misjudged you. Save for the Ronso, we've all won a leg. And ironically enough, the Ronso are possibly the team I'm most afraid of."  
"Ditto that," Zell said. "I'm kinda surprised Ma and I are still in this. Not that I didn't believe in us, but I really haven't seen Ma do much besides cook, clean, and play cards. I thought I'd have to carry her this whole race, but she's kicking some butt!"  
"Biran feel same way about Yenke," Biran said. "Yenke always just followed Biran. Normally hide behind Biran. But now, Biran sees Yenke is leading _Biran._ Make Biran proud."

Ma found herself getting increasingly confused at an intersection. There were several different paths to take. A couple went through the mountains and one went by the ocean. Not to mention the fork in the road she'd already passed.  
Dona rode up and found Ma stuck in her debate. " _Why_ couldn't we just have route markers?" she asked Ma.  
"It'd be nice," Ma replied. "I suppose we just pick one, then?"  
Dona spotted something in the distance and immediately turned her attention back to Ma. She rode her chocobo forward a couple steps to be closer to Ma and slightly ahead of her. "What if we both picked different paths? Then, if they're wrong, we'll come back here and mark an x on the ground to mean our paths didn't work."  
"You'd do that?" Ma asked.  
" _Only_ if you would."  
"I think that's fair. Okay, which route will you take?"  
"I don't know. I suppose this middle one," Dona said, gesturing over her shoulder to the path of which she was intentionally obstructing Ma's view."  
"Okay, I'll go by the water. Good luck!"  
"And to you," Dona replied. She watched Ma ride off to the water, then, when she was out of view, she drew an 'x' on the ground before heading off to the middle path. She rode between two mountain passages and passed a small _Amazing Final Fantasy Race_ flag, indicating her current path.


	26. Episode 9, Part 2

"It's been too long," Reina said to herself as she rode her chocobo between some mountains. She spotted a river coming up and patted her chocobo on the head. "You're good with running in rivers, right?"  
" _Wark!"_ it replied cheerfully.  
"Then let's go for it!" Reina urged her chocobo to go faster. She cheered as the wind raced through her hair and the chocobo broke into a near sprint.

"No, chocobo!" Yenke shouted as the chocobo continued to walk in small circles. "Go that way! That way!"  
The chocobo did not stop. Yenke finally got off the chocobo. He grabbed it softly by the beak and pointed in the direction he wanted to go. " _That_ way, okay, feathered-friend?"  
 _"Wark wark!"_ it replied happily.  
"Good." Yenke got back on the chocobo. It started going forward for a second, but then started making circles again, only this time in the opposite direction. "Yenke is horned..."

Ma soon found herself in a spot with a mountain range on one side and an ocean on the other. There was definitely no passage this direction. She rode her chocobo back the way she came and found the location where she had previously met with Dona. She found the "x" on the ground, which indicated that Dona's route was incorrect. Ma started to head down the third, theoretically untested path, when a route marker suddenly caught her eye. It indicated the path that Dona had taken was the correct route to take. And yet, there was an "x" on the ground. _  
_"Oh Dona," Ma sighed. "You really never will change, will you?"  
Ma directed her chocobo down the middle path, hoping to catch back up to Dona.

Dona guided her chocobo along a path, but came to what seemed to be a dead-end. She circled back and looked around for another path, but only found a small gap in the mountains leading to a river. She wouldn't have given it another thought if not for the route marker nearby. She inched her chocobo closer.  
"Is it safe to go in rivers? On a chocobo?" she asked herself.  
"YEE-HAW! Outta the way!" a woman's voice screamed as it approached. Reina and her chocobo were racing through the river in the opposite direction. She noticed the opening in the mountains, then noticed Dona waiting by the shore and smiled. "Jump, choco!"  
Reina's chocobo sprang into the air and landed in the shallow waters beside Dona and her chocobo. Water splashed all over Dona and her chocobo as Reina raced on.  
"Ooh, sooorry," Reina shouted sarcastically. She raced off and left Dona, who was absolutely soaked.  
" _Urrrrg!_ Wrong _again,_ Barthello! We should've U-Turned _them_!"

Fran's chocobo trotted along to the area with an "x" on the ground, but didn't even notice it as she aimed for the marked path. She was more fixated on Reina, who was racing by her in the opposite direction.  
Reina was cheering and even did a bit of showboating as she stood up on the chocobo and surfed for a short distance. She waved to Fran, who waved back a bit less enthusiastically. "I love chocobos!" Reina shouted happily. "Wheeeeeee!"  
"Seems so," Fran muttered. She looked over her shoulder at Yenke, who was only barely making any forward progress. "Reina will have this roadblock win easily, but at least some people are still struggling."

Reina rode by Yenke and stopped her chocobo. She turned around and pulled up beside him. "No no no, you're doing it wrong," she said. She helped pull Yenke into a proper chocobo-riding position.  
"Thank you, hornless lady," Yenke said.  
"I didn't do it for you, I did it for the chocobo. He can't have enjoyed that. Oh, but you're welcome!" She continued her ride back to the starting forest and rode past the group of racers talking near the gates.  
"Yah haw!" Faris cheered. She picked up her things and joined Reina in receiving their next clue. They retreated a short distance from the group so they would not hear.  
Reina opened and whispered the clue. "Travel tothe Castle of Bal on a pair of-! _Black chocobos!_ Yes!"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to the Castle of Bal area and land their black chocobos in a forest surrounding the area. Outside the castle gates, which are closed, will be their next clue."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris found a section of black chocobos in the corral and were appointed two of them. They mounted them and the chocobos immediately flapped their wings wildly and took to the skies.  
Faris wrestled with a map of the area and found the Castle of Bal, then pointed the way. They started flying over the large sea in the indicated direction.

Dona continued to angrily ride her chocobo around the strange, non-linear path around the world. She continuously had to backtrack after being pinned in by various mountain ranges and deep waters. After a short search, she finally found her next route marker and continued into an open strip of land heading to the south.  
"I _hope_ this is the end," she mumbled to herself.  
"Me, too," Ma said as she rode past Dona.  
"Oh you did _not-_ "  
"Talk all you want, Dona," Ma shouted from a short distance ahead of her. "Your trick didn't help you much, did it? Continue to moan and groan if you'd like, but make sure to eat my dust while you do!"  
"Get _back_ here!" Dona's chocobo broke into a sprint and chased Ma all the way down the path. At one point, Dona took the lead, but only barely. Ma quickly closed the gap and the two reached the corral at almost the exact same time, with Ma only a split second ahead.  
Barthello and Zell hopped up and grabbed their things before joining their partners. Both helped their partners off the chocobos and took the clues.  
"Travel to the Castle of Bal on a pair of black chocobos," Zell read to Ma.  
Barthello read the same thing to Dona. All four picked their black chocobos. Dona and Barthello immediately took off and headed out to find the castle. Zell started out, but turned back when he saw Ma had yet to leave.  
"What's up, Ma!? We gotta go! They'll beat us," Zell said.  
"To where?" Ma asked. "Zelly, you haven't even _found_ that castle on the map yet. Is it north or south? East or west?"  
"I uhh...err...dunno."  
Ma pulled out her map and searched for it. Zell looked over her shoulder for a moment, then pointed at the castle. "There it is! Let's go!"  
Zell started urging his chocobo to fly, but Ma was still waiting.  
"Ugh. What now, Ma?" Zell stopped his chocobo from taking off.  
"Well, we don't know where _we_ are," Ma said. She checked with her compass and surveyed the area to get a feel for the world she had just circled on a chocobo. "Okay, we're roughly here, so we'll head north and somewhat west, or...maybe..."  
"Gahhhh, Ma! Let's just kinda wing it, okay? The other teams will do that."  
"Okay okay, Zelly," Ma said, putting the map away. "North...ish. Let's go."  
"Yeah! Let's _do_ it!"

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris flew through the air over some mountain tops, only making a few minor directional adjustments to avoid the extremely tall mountains. They landed in a forest surrounding a large castle.  
Faris started to head toward the clue box at the closed castle gates, but stopped and sighed. She turned around and walked back to the chocobos and grabbed Reina on the shoulder and pulled her away from the chocobos.  
"I was just making sure they're okay!" Reina whined. She joined Faris and walked to the clue box with her. She pulled out the clue and read it to Faris. "Find an alternate way into the castle through Jachol Caves. Caution: Xing ahead."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must enter the Castle of Bal, but must do so by navigating a cave full of hidden switches and puzzling routes. Once inside the castle, teams will find the fifth of six pre-determined delay points: the Xing."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris followed a sign pointing the way to the cave, which was only a short distance away. They headed inside to what appeared to be a normal cave. The occasional treasure chest littered the corners, but all chests were already opened. They followed a small passage to the back where the cave's difficulty became apparent. Along a wall was a series of eight switches, all shaped like miniature skulls.  
"Supposin' we just try one," Faris muttered. She walked to the nearest switch and tried to activate it, but her hand swung through the air as the switch vanished before their eyes.  
"It's that one!" Reina shouted while pointing to the farthest switch on the right; her voice echoing loudly.  
She and Faris races for the last switch, at which point all the switches returned. They reached the last switch and Reina reached for it, but once again, all switches except one disappeared. This time, it was the switch two from the left that remained.  
"This be strange. Okay, I'll be 'ere. You get the rest," she told Reina.  
"Right." Reina raced to the left-most switches and waited for the switches to pull their vanishing act.  
The switches disappeared, except for the one closest to Faris, who jumped on the opportunity and flicked the switch. The large wall of switches shifted to the left, barring their path back to the entrance, but allowing them to search the caves further. They proceeded on to find a large, steel door. There was no handle and pushing it had no effect, as Faris quickly learned.  
"Nother switch, eh?" Faris said. "Look around, Sis."

Fran's facial expression was starting to show signs of aggravation as her earlier steady progress through the course had only begun to swing far down hill. Having gotten lost in a series of rivers, all of which lead to nowhere, she was starting to lose hope. She tossed her head back and rolled her eyes when she finally spotted the final route marker and was on her way back to the town, but her annoyment was only worsened by the fact that Yenke was not only in viewing distance, but also was gaining on her. His riding skills had obviously increased from the previous doughnuts he was doing earlier on the chocobo.  
Fran _barely_ edged Yenke out to the stables and grabbed her clue with Balthier. As they were reading through their clue, Yenke came in and got his things as well.  
"Travel to the Castle of Bal on a pair of-" Balthier read.  
"-Black chocobos," Yenke finished of his own clue.  
All four consulted maps before leaving, but Balthier and Fran found the castle easily, whereas Biran and Yenke only just realized their map was upside-down. They found it soon enough and took to the skies on their black chocobos as well.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Thar she is!" Faris said, pointing into an empty treasure chest. At the bottom of the chest was a switch. She flicked it and the steel door swung open.  
The girls raced inside and found a very wide open space. The middle had a gorge of unknown depths, but there had since been handrails added and arrows pointed around it. They followed a path and found a pair of ropes leading up a rock wall. There was also a small crew here to give them safety equipment and harnesses.  
"Didn't expect this," Faris said.  
"Me neither."  
Once fully equipped, the girls began climbing the ropes. Faris had no trouble whatsoever, while Reina was only about half as fast, but still faced few issues aside from fatigue. Once at the top, they realized they were no longer in the cave, but instead in the castle's basement. There were several decorations on the walls and doors. The entire room was carved from stone and was a dull shade a white. Elegant pillars decorated the area, but the majority of them were broken, as was most of the ruins of a basement.  
An arrow pointed them through a door and up a couple flights of stairs. They whizzed by the beautiful castle interior without a second thought until they were on a balcony overlooking the forest they had landed before. Faris was happy to see that their chocobos were still the only ones in the forest, but Reina had yet to even notice. She was just standing with the biggest smile on her face and her arms clenched and wiggling happily in front of her. To their right was the Xing mat and the next clue box. But Reina was looking to the left, where a set of small, blue-gray wyverns waited.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"This is the fifth of six predetermined delay points. An Xing can be used to force one team to stop racing until one team (or more) has past them. If the team waiting at the Xing is the last team, they will be notified after waiting for a time period of exactly five minutes, at which time they may begin racing again. Teams may only use one delay point throughout the race, so they must decide when it is most advantageous."

"Hiryuuuuuuuu!" Reina shouted.  
Faris waved a hand in front of her face to break her stare. "Reina! I need yer help! This be a wonderful opportunity to use our power. We have a huge lead and we be the only ones with a delay left. What ter do?"  
"Gah, okay, okay, I'll think. But I wanna ride a dragon so badly!" She closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath, exhaled, and opened her eyes. "Okay, so here's our options. The Xing isn't very powerful, so we _could_ save it."  
"Or we wait ter see what team lands in that thar forest and use it on them. It'd give us a tremendous lead, methinks."  
"True. Or we use it on Dona and Barthello to get back at them for being meanies all race long."  
"Aye. Or we use it on Fran and Balthier to try again to knock 'em down a peg er two."  
Reina thought about it. "Okay, well I say we _don't_ use it on whatever team comes next. We have a _huge_ lead, so giving us a huger load wouldn't work out well anyway. We always get bunched up, and I think we'll win this leg anyway."  
"Har! That be the confidence I like! So do we play fer vengance, fer profit, er save it fer later?"  
"I saw Dona first when I raced around the world, so I think they'll be done first from the roadblock. This delay _can_ be used to slow down somebody in the front, not the back. Okay! I know what we'll do!" Reina dug through the pictures and pasted one up. "There. I saw Yenke struggling a lot at the roadblock. Since I think Dona will be done first, our best bet is for somebody being in _next_ to last place. So that would be Ma & Zell and Fran & Balthier. And of those," the camera revealed the picture of Fran and Balthier on the Xing board, "I think our biggest threat is Fran and Balthier. We'll just hope they're in trouble."  
"Good thinkin'," Faris said. She reached into the clue box and pulled a clue to read to Reina. "Make yer way by wind drake ter Carwin."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now travel to the city of Carwin using one of the wind drakes, or wyverns or hiryuu as they're also known. The city will be tricky to reach since there are several mountain ranges in the way and wind drakes have difficulty flying over these mountains, so teams will be forced to find gaps to enter."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Now?" Reina asked anxiously, almost unable to contain herself.  
"Now," Faris said.  
Reina raced out and jumped onto a wind drake, hugging it tightly and talking mostly baby-talk to it. Faris sat on the drake as well as it lifted up into the sky.  
"Trial and error be our best bet fer navigatin', m'thinks," Faris said. The wind was already pressing against them as they soared through the air. "I'll just let yeh do what yeh do though. Enjoy yer ride."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Ma and Zell landed their chocobos in the forest by the Castle of Bal, just beside Reina and Faris's chocobos.  
Zell jumped into the air and cheered loudly. "Oh _YEAH!_ " he shouted. "Only one other team is here! Probably Reina and Faris! That means Dona and Barthello are _loooooost!_ Way to navigate, Ma!"  
Zell raised his hand for a high-five, which his mom happily gave him. They raced to the clue box and got their next clue.  
"Find an alternate way into the castle through Jachol Caves. Caution: Xing ahead," Ma read.  
"Better get in there quickly," Zell said. He  
Zell and Ma raced off to the caves and made their way inside. They found the switches and pondered it for a moment. When the switches disappeared, Zell and Ma both jumped back in shock.  
"They can _do_ that!?" Zell asked.  
"I guess that's our switch then," Ma said. She tried to flip it, only to realize that the switch changes locations. "Oh. I...see."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Dona and Barthello reached the forest and landed. Barthello immediately received a punch in the arm.  
"Your sense of direction sucks," Dona said. "Your sense of _everything_ sucks. We're taking out those sisters _this instant_."  
"Okay, Dona," Barthello said unenthusiastically. He grabbed their next clue. "Find an alternate way into the castle through Jachol Caves. Caution: Xing ahead."  
"Oh _wonderful_."  
Dona and Barthello walked to the cave and walked inside. They started down a passage when it was suddenly completely blocked off. Dona jumped a mile when a chunk of the wall slammed shut in front of them.  
"That is _not_ safe!" she yelled.  
On the wall in front of them was now a switch that asked to open the passage. Barthello flicked it and the wall moved aside, allowing them access to the disappearing switches.

"Whoa!" Zell shouted as the wall slammed shut behind him and Ma.  
They had barely made it to the second section where a closed steel door awaited them. Now, unlike with Reina and Faris, the area they had to search for another switch was extremely small. This greatly helped them, however, as the small area only contained a small section of wall and a treasure chest, which Ma investigated to find the switch.  
She and Zell headed through the now-opened door and made their way to the wall with the ropes.  
"Good luck, Ma," Zell said as the crew helped him put on his safety gear.  
"I'll need it," she replied. "Whew. This doesn't look very easy."

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 4th Place]  
Fran and Balthier reached the Castle of Bal forest and ran to get their clue at the gates. As Balthier read the clue to Fran, he noticed another pair of black chocobos landing in the forest.  
"They very well might have followed us," Balthier noted.  
"Or we're vastly underestimating these two," Fran added. "I'd not be surprised if they have been hiding their abilities from us."  
"I would, but still, what if? Not for us to worry about now. Come, to the caves."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place]  
Biran and Yenke reached the clue box and took the last clue from the box.  
"Find alternate way into castle through Jah Chole caves," Biran sounded the clue out. "Caution: X-word ahead."  
The Ronso wasted no time following the arrows to the caves.

Dona and Barthello found the switch in the treasure chest and entered the last part of the caves in time to find Zell at the top of the rope waiting for Ma. Ma was only about halfway up the rope and was taking a short break from the climbing.  
"Oh hurry _up,_ " Dona whined as she and Barthello approached the ropes. She moved to talk to the crew working the ropes. "Can we start going up?"  
"Yeah, but only on the available rope. It's first come, first serve," he replied.  
"So which of us goes first?"  
"You should, Dona," Barthello said. "I- I think I can climb this quickly."  
"Yeah, because you were _so_ fast climbing the dam earlier in the race."  
"This is shorter. I won't let you down, Dona."  
"Better not," she said. She started putting on the gear to climb up as well.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris navigated their drake through the skies and found themselves a bit lost. Their route required travel over mountains, which the drake was unable to do. Faris tried her best to hold the map while Reina navigated the drake along the mountains. They decided the best course of action was to just follow the mountains to the south and hope there was a break close enough.

Ma and Dona climbed the ropes in what was becoming a fairly intense race. Ma was easily ahead, but Dona was doing a good job intimidating her. Ma had nearly reached the top when Dona was only barely nearing the halfway mark. Zell held out a hand for Ma and pulled her up to the top. She took off the gear and left with Zell to race through the castle. Before she was even fully off the rope, Barthello had already begun his ascent.  
Zell and Ma reached the top and found the Xing mat with Fran and Balthier's picture on it.  
"Oh _sweet_!" Zell shouted.  
"Now now, Zelly. We don't find pleasure in others' misfortune," Ma reminded him, though there was still a big smile on her face. She took their clue from the box and read it. "Make your way by wind drake to Carwin."  
"That must be these guys." Zell walked up to the first wind drake and climbed aboard. He helped Ma on as well. "This is gonna _rock_. These guys look badass."  
"Language. . . ."

"I'm not sure I understand the physics of this," Balthier said after reaching for a switch that disappeared. He and Fran cornered the switches and were able to activate the correct switch. The wall closed off access to the front of the cage. "Ah, wonderful. This should slow our opponents down."  
Balthier and Fran proceeded through to the next area and found the treasure switch instantly.  
"Never try to hide something from me in a treasure chest," Balthier told Fran with a smile on his face.  
They raced through the door and over to the ropes, where Dona was about three fourths of the way up, while Barthello was about halfway.  
"Ohh, come on already!" Balthier urged them.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place]  
Biran and Yenke faced the eight switches and watched blankly as all but one disappeared. Neither budged when they reappeared and all but a different one disappeared. In fact, that same process happened a good five times before either Ronso even spoke.  
"Yenke is confused," Yenke said.  
"Biran, too," Biran replied.  
"Yenke has idea! What if Yenke and Biran hit _all_ of them! As fast as Ronso-ly possible!"  
"Biran agrees!"  
With that, both Ronso ran around frantically hitting the switches. It took them a while, but they finally hit the correct switch by pure accident and moved to the next section.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Reina and Faris, having finally found a passage, landed their drake at Carwin: a small town with a stone wall around the perimeter. The clue box was right outside the town's entrance. Faris grabbed the clue and ran back to Reina, who was still with the drake.  
"Yer still racin', right?" Faris said.  
"Of course," Reina replied. "I'm just so happy to be home and among some animals. There haven't been enough this race."  
Faris ripped open the clue. "Use a submarine ter find and enter the sunken Walse Castle."  
The sisters walked to the coast and found the five submarines waiting by the shore. They entered and found the controls inside, which Faris took command of. She pushed the button to dive underwater and they began their hunt for the tower. The hunt was rather short, however, as the tower was only a short distance away. She drove the submarine into a clearly-marked section of the sunken tower. A lot of machina were set up to help the teams park the submarines with minimal difficulty.  
Faris and Reina stepped off the submarine into a section of the castle that had an air-pocket preventing water from flooding the room. There was a clue box across the empty room, which Faris and Reina raced over to.  
"Detour: Search for Shards or Rip to Shreds," Reina read.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. The choice: Search for Shards, or Rip to Shreds. In Search for Shards, teams must enter a section of the tower that is completely flooded and find five shards around the room. The room is fairly dark and finding small, transparent shards could be very difficult. In addition, teams will only be allowed in for as long as they can hold their breath, with a maximum of four minutes. Searching with several interruptions could also make this very difficult, but lucky teams could find themselves finishing quickly.  
"In Rip to Shreds, teams will enter an above-water room with a very large crystal in the middle of the room. Then, teams must use the hammers and chisels provided to break the crystal until the once six-foot-tall crystal is only one-foot tall. There is a line drawn so teams will know how far they must chisel it down. It is a very physical task, but teams with strength and perseverance could profit from it. I know it has nothing to do with ripping, so calling it 'Rip to Shreds' is a bit untrue, but leave me alone. I'm just the host."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"I like the idear of breakin' up a crystal like all of 'em we saved b'fore," Faris said, "but I think we'd be best searchin'."  
"Aye," Reina replied with a smile. "Let's search!"  
The girls headed to a stairwell where the route split. A staircase down and to the right was labeled as leading to "Shreds" and a staircase down and left was labeled as "Shards." The girls turned left and headed down the stairs. As they headed down, the room got slightly darker. It was dark enough that they didn't even notice they had stepped into water on one of the steps.  
"Ready?" Reina asked.  
"Aye."  
The girls walked a few more steps, then dove into the water and swam into the room to find the shards. There was enough light in the room that they weren't about to swim into any of the walls, but the artificially provided lights caused a strange house-of-mirrors effect when they would reflect off the shards, then the water would bounce the light around to make the shard's true location difficult to locate. Both girls often grabbed at shadows.

Barthello reached the top of the rope and waited for Dona, who was panting heavily only a short distance from the top. Balthier began his ascent while Fran waited for Dona to finish. Fran sighed when the Ronso entered and started waiting to climb as well.  
"Biran is not far behind! Neither is Yenke!" Biran said. "Ronso going to _win_ this leg!"  
"Not likely," Fran told them. "Faris, Reina, Ma, and Zell have not been seen in a while. I assume they are far ahead."  
"Biran sees. Well, Biran will make _quick_ work of hornless wall! He will climb faster than all hornless humans!"  
"What about Viera?"  
"Biran does not know Viera, but assumes he or she is _equally_ hornless!"  
"I am not a hume," Fran explained. "I am a Viera."  
"Does Viera have horn?"  
"No."  
"Then you hornless, too! All hornless ones equal in Ronso eyes!"  
Balthier looked at Fran, who mouthed "climb quickly" to him. He nodded and sped up his climb.

Dona finally reached the top with Barthello's help. He picked Dona up and carried her up the flights of stairs. She pretended to struggle, but was very glad for his assistance after a strenuous climb. He carried her out to the balcony, where seeing Fran and Balthier's pictures on the Xing board suddenly motivated her a little bit more. Barthello put her down and took their next clue.  
"Make your way by wind drake to Carwin," he read.  
Dona whined about the drakes, but not too much after being revitalized by the joy from the Xing. She and Barthello got onto a drake and started to fly to the east toward Carwin.


	27. Episode 9, Part 3

Faris surfaced and joined Reina, who was already waiting. Faris had only surfaced because she was instructed to. "How many?" she asked.  
"None," Reina said. "It's hard!"  
"Aye, but at least I got one."  
"Oh, good! Well then, let's dive again!" Reina took a deep breath and dove in. Faris followed her immediately after.

"So lost!" Zell shouted over the winds as he and Ma soared beside some mountains, waiting for an opening. Instead of an opening, they found the mountain range curving inward so that they had to backtrack to continue around the mountains.  
"Hand me the map, Zelly, and take the reins!" Ma shouted back. She took the map and slid aside so that Zell could drive the drake. She scratched her head and watched over Zell's shoulder. "I guess we'll just see what happens?"

Fran reached the top of the wall and joined Balthier in jogging up the stairs to the balcony while the Ronso started climbing up the wall. They reached the Xing board and saw their picture pasted up on it.  
"Can't say I'm terribly surprised," Balthier said. "Shucks. And after all that work to try to get ahead of the Ronso. Now we're left waiting for them."  
"At least we know where we stand," Fran said. She stood to the side and watched the drakes.

"You're _lost,_ " Dona said to Barthello. Their drake carried them high in the air beside a long mountain range over a forest. It refused to cross the mountains, despite Dona's complaints.  
"It is hard to navigate," Barthello said. "The map is very bad and the mountains appear to surround us completely. It's just a matter of luck to find the small openings that aren't clearly marked on the map."  
"I don't _care,_ Barthello. I'm not having fun and you _need_ to get us to the next stop. I feel disgusting after Reina splashed me with that _disgusting_ water."  
"She did _what!?_ " Barthello shouted. "I knew you got wet, but she did that intentionally? I can't believe it. I will get you to her, Dona! We will take our vengance!"  
"Don't over-react, Barthello. But yes, let's catch up to them and make her _pay_."

The Ronso made quick work of the wall-climb and after a quick victory pose that involved a lot of muscle flexing at the "hornless crew," the Ronso raced through the castle to get to the balcony.  
"About time," Balthier said, quickly moving from the Xing mat to the clue box.  
"Ronso are not last?" Biran said, looking at the board.  
"Ronso only _tied_ for last!" Yenke said. He high-fived Biran.  
"Strange, those ones," Fran said.  
"Make your way by wind drake to Carwin," Balthier read.  
Balthier and Fran wasted no time getting to their drake while the Ronso fumbled through tricky words like "drake" and "to." They lifted off and headed to the northeast.  
"The word is _to,_ Yenke!" Biran said, smacking Yenke in the back of the head. "Toe has another letter!"  
"It hard!" Yenke replied. "Ronso not meant to be bilingual! Only speak Ronso language!"  
"There _is_ no Ronso language!"  
"Concentrate on race, Biran," Yenke said. They approached the final drake. "Other people go north, but dragons not fly high. Not fly over mountains. More mountains north, but Yenke remembers path to _not-_ north."  
"But Yenke, if Ronso just follow hornless ones, then win at end, Ronso still in game," Biran said.  
"Yenke think it time to stand on Ronso legs. Ronso legs _much_ stronger than human legs!"  
"That right they are!" Biran cheered. "Okay, Biran tr- Biran truuuu- Okay, Biran _trust_ Yenke. Ronso go south!"  
Biran let Yenke drive the drake and they both hopped aboard. Their drake started to fly from the castle to the southeast.

-{Biran & Yenke: Interview}-

"Biran and Yenke very impressed by mini-dragon," Biran said. "He had many horns."  
"Horns on head. Horns on wings," Yenke said. "We bring home picture of mini-dragon. Maybe make statue of mini-dragon for Mt. Gagazet. It beast of horny proportions."  
"Almost afraid to touch mini-dragon. It mythical beast! No Ronso can tame. And _definitely_ no human!"

-{End Interview}-

Reina's head shot out of the water as she held out a crystal shard. "I got one!"  
"Good fer you," Faris said, pulling a third crystal up. "Only one more!"  
"This is hard though. . . . We've been here a long time. I'm getting pruney!"  
"Aye, as 'm I. But yeh get used ter it bein' a swashbuckler."

A drake touched down just outside Carwin and released its two passengers: Biran and Yenke. They raced to the clue box and were both a bit startled to see so many clues remaining in the box.  
"Ronso...doing good?" Yenke asked.  
"Of course Ronso doing good!" Biran shouted. He ripped open their clue. "Use submarine to find and enter the sunken Wall-see Tower."  
Biran and Yenke headed to the coast to find a submarine. They found the four remaining subs floating just off shore and made their way inside one. They were overwhelmed by all the buttons and gauges inside. Both began pushing random buttons and even sometimes the gauges to try to find anything that would start the submarine.  
Biran sat in the captain's chair and found exactly what he needed: an illustrated guide to driving the submarine. He studied the pictures while Yenke closed the hatch. The submarine finally started moving and Biran and Yenke began their very short search for the underwater tower.  
"There! There!" Yenke pointed at it, even though Biran was already heading straight for it.  
"Biran _knows!_ Yenke need to sit down and shut mouth!" Biran drove the submarine into the entrance, where some machina helped them park the submarine. They exited the submarine and took a clue from the nearby clue box.  
"Detour: Search for Shards or Rip to Shreds," Yenke read.  
"Rip to Shreds!" both Ronso cheered. They high-fived and headed to the stairs to find the Rip to Shreds detour.  
After going down a flight of stairs, the Ronso stepped in water and looked at each other accusingly.  
"Biran cannot read!" Yenke shouted.  
"Yenke cannot read!" Biran shouted at the same time.  
They both ran up the stairs, then headed across the landing to the detour labeled as "Shreds" not "Shards" and headed down a flight of stairs. In the room at the bottom there were five giant crystals, each with a pair of hammers, a pair of chisels, and one large sledgehammer. The Ronso walked to the nearest crystal and picked their equipment. Biran was first to grab the sledgehammer, while Yenke grabbed a hammer and chisel. Biran took a swing at the front of the crystal and pounded the side of it, but it only knocked off a very tiny shard. Yenke, meanwhile, stuck his chisel into the back of the crystal and started pounding it in with his hammer.

"Got it!" Faris shouted as she rose out of the water at the steps. She had to wait, however, until Reina came out of the water.  
"Oh cool, you got it!" she said when she surfaced.  
The girls handed off their five crystals and took their next clue from a man nearby. They headed upstairs to get to better lighting, then read the clue.  
"Make your way to the Pit Stop at the top of this tower!" Reina read with a high level of excitement.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now climb five flights of stairs to the top of the tower. The last team to check in here...may be eliminated."

Reina and Faris quickly ran up the stairs, though they were slowed down by their wet hair and clothes. Reina slipped at one point, but Faris was behind her and was able to brace her before the fall. They finished climbing the stairs and soon found a room with a giant crystal sitting in the middle. Vines grew beneath the crystal and the elegant room had a faint music playing in the background. Reina and Faris ran toward the mat, then ran even _faster_ when they saw that the greeter for this leg was their old friend Butz. Reina jumped in for a hug, leaving Faris behind to just smile and greet Butz with a nod of her head. Gippal, standing beside Butz, laughed.  
"Welcome to Walse Tower," Butz said, breaking Reina's hugging grip. She joined Faris on the mat.  
"Reina and Faris," Gippal said, "you're team number _one_!"  
The sisters cheered and hugged. Without warning, Reina pulled Butz into yet another hug, only this one a group hug with Faris as well.  
"I knew you'd be here first when Gip told me you were in the race," Butz said.  
"So this is, what? Your third win?" Gippal asked.  
The group hug broke up and Reina nodded. "Yeah, number three."  
"You two might be the team to beat."  
"Sounds right ter me," Faris said. "We win anything, Gippal?"  
"As a matter of fact, you did. You've both won a magical lamp, capable of summoning powerful creatures. The more water is inside the lamp, the more powerful the creature you'll summon."  
"Too bad our monster hunting days are over," Reina said. "But they'll make beautiful decorations!"  
"I've got the perfect treasure chest ter keep mine in."

Ma and Zell's drake finally found a break in the mountains and headed for Carwin. Both seemed highly relieved to finally be heading toward their destination as opposed to heading almost the exact opposite, just to get around some mountains. As their drake was just about to land at Carwin, Zell looked over his shoulder and saw another drake approaching. He tapped Ma on the shoulder and pointed.  
"Who is it?" Ma asked. She and Zell stepped down from the now-grounded drake and jogged to the clue box. Both checked over their shoulders often to try to see who was joining them.  
"Oh, _man_ ," was all Zell could say when he saw the team.  
"It's Dona and Barthello," Ma said. She took the clue from the clue box and read it to Zell. "Use a submarine to find and enter the sunken Walse Tower."  
"Is there anything we can do to trick them into leaving?"  
"Come on, Zelly. That's not how we play. We play for ourselves, remember? Let's run our own race. Now hurry up or I won't let you drive the submarine."  
"Oh _hell_ yeah!" Zell cheered. "Thanks, Ma. You're the best!"  
They raced for the submarines on the coast and passed Dona and Barthello as they reached the clue box for themselves.  
"I can't stand them," Dona said, glaring over her shoulder at the Dinchts.  
"Ignore them. We'll beat them soon enough," Barthello said. He read the clue to Dona, then the two of them raced from the city to the coast with the waiting submarines.

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in Last Place]  
"I'll bet those are for us," Balthier said, pointing down to the submarines below their drake. Two of them dropped into the water and out of sight, leaving only one more submarine.  
"That means we're in last place," Fran noted. "We must do well on the detour."  
"Very well, indeed." Balthier landed the drake and helped Fran down before jogging to the clue box.  
They grabbed their clue and opened it while already heading toward the submarines. Balthier read it to Fran as they walked, just to ensure they didn't skip a task.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Ma and Zell parked their submarine a good minute before Dona and Barthello arrived, but were not allowed to leave the submarine while another submarine was entering, so they were forced to wait. Once they received the all-clear, they hopped down from the submarine and raced to the clue box. Zell reached it long before Ma since he was so eager to leave. He ripped it open and read it to Ma when she arrived.  
"Detour: Search for Shards or Rip to Shreds?" he read.  
"Neither of those sound great," Ma said. She thought about the choices while Barthello took his and Dona's clue. "I really don't see myself doing well with breaking something."  
"I'm not so great with a hammer, either. Anything _I_ know of that needs a good pounding, I just give it the ol' left-right combo!"  
"We'll search for shards then, I suppose," Ma said. She and Zell headed toward the Shards detour as quickly as they could.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 4th Place]  
"I don't like those choices," Dona told Barthello. " _You_ pick. I'm _already_ dirty, so I don't mind sitting in the water and waiting, but I am _not_ going underwater. So pick whatever works best for you."  
"Okay, Dona," Barthello said. "We'll do Rip to Shreds. I might have a plan."  
"Are you saying there's some kind of _brain_ in there?" Dona joked, pointing at Barthello's head.  
Barthello smiled briefly. "Come, Dona."

Yenke continued to chisel away at the crystal, while Biran insisted on whacking it with a sledge hammer. He was still not doing a great deal of damage to the crystal, whereas Yenke had taken out a fairly decent chunk from the back.  
"What Biran doing _wrong_?" Biran asked.  
"Yenke is not sure. Never break crystal before," Yenke said. "Maybe Biran should do chisel-hammer like Yenke. Yenke doing well."  
"Maybe. Yenke been smart in past. But Biran does not understand how small hammer and horn-shaped object make more break than big hammer! Biran understands that horn is strongest thing on planet, but this is _big hammer_! And bigger always better!"

[Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in Last Place]  
Balthier and Fran raced from the submarine to the clue box, where Fran took out and read their clue.  
"Detour: Rip to Shreds or Search for Shards?" she read.  
"Brute force has never been our forte, but searching. . . . A tough call, but I say we search," Balthier said.  
"Agreed. Let's go."

Ma and Zell immediately started diving for the shards. They swam around the room and searched, but were having some great difficulties. One of those difficulties was that Ma was struggling with a cheap pair of goggles that had been provided and refused to open her eyes underwater.  
After only a couple minutes, Ma surfaced to catch her breath and attempt to put on the goggles once more. She put them on correctly this time, but the lenses fogged up, making it difficult to see.  
Zell surfaced in time to help Ma, but he had yet to find a shard. "Gotta get 'em wet first. On the inside. That's why they're all foggy." Zell took Ma's goggles and dipped them in the water before handing them back. "Try now."  
"Much better!" Ma said. "Sorry to slow you down."  
"Don't worry about it. But don't talk about it either! Dive, Ma. Dive!"

Dona and Barthello found the room full of crystals and picked a crystal far away from the Ronso's prying eyes. Barthello handed a small hammer and a chisel to Dona, who had folded arms and seemed as if she was refusing to help.  
"Please, Dona," Barthello said. "I have a plan. I just need you to work on the bottom for me while I weaken the top."  
" _Fine,_ Barthello," she said. "I just thought your 'plan' involved me doing something less hands-on. Like sabotage."  
Barthello picked up the sledgehammer and began working down the top of the crystal with large swings and loud grunts to accompany them.

"Biran has idea!" Biran told Yenke. "Oh, but shhh! Keep voice down!"  
"What Biran idea?" Yenke asked.  
"Can Yenke make fake-horn stay in crystal?"  
"Yes. Yenke pound it in like this!" Yenke pounded the chisel into the crystal until it would stay there on its own. The chisel sat about halfway up the crystal.  
"Okay, stand back!" Biran took a huge swing with the sledgehammer, hitting the chisel into the crystal. There was a loud shattering noise as the top half of the crystal where Yenke had been working fell completely off the top. The chisel clattered noisily to the ground.  
"Biran use smart think!" Yenke shouted. He raced for his chisel and picked it up, then brought it back to the crystal and started pounding in a new section for Biran to break off.

"Enough room for us?" Balthier asked Ma as he and Fran walked down the staircase to the Search for Shards detour.  
"Only as long as you don't beat us," Ma joked.  
"Any luck so far?" Balthier began taking off portions of his clothes he did not want to get wet, which were his boots and overshirt. Fran already dove into the water.  
"Zell found one, and I've found one, but that's it. But we haven't been here _too_ long."  
"I see. Well, may the best team win, I suppose." Balthier dove into the water, followed closely by Ma.

Dona backed away from her chisel, which she left relatively close to the bottom of the crystal. Barthello took a swing at it, causing a big crack to appear in the crystal, but it seemed to have a lot of strength holding it together. He hit it two more times, each time barely adding to the cracks until finally the whole chisel was buried and subsequent hits were futile.  
" _Great_ ," Dona said.  
"It's okay...I think," Barthello said. "Use the other chisel and we'll try something closer to the top. Break off smaller pieces first."  
"Whatever you say, but if you mess _this_ up, we're _done._ "  
"I know."

Yenke stepped away from their short crystal as Biran smashed the chisel in the side. The crystal shattered until only a little stub remained and all parts except a tiny point were below the required height. Yenke ran over and smashed the point off with his little hammer as a man brought the Ronso their next clue.  
"Victory for Ronso!" Biran shouted. He opened the clue. "Make way to Pit Stop at top of this tower."  
The Ronso tossed down their equipment noisily and ran to the stairs.

"Number two!" Zell shouted. He added another shard to his and Ma's pile, which was now at three. He took a quick glance at Fran and Balthier's pile, which only had one. " _Yes_ ," he cheered quietly to himself.  
"I heard that," Fran said after coming back up for air.  
"Yeaaargh! I err- Dah!" Zell took a deep breath and headed back under. Fran did the same.

Biran and Yenke entered the Pit Stop room and ran to the mat and hopped on.  
"Biran and Yenke," Gippal said, "this is your best finish yet. Team number _two_!"  
"It all because of Yenke," Biran said. "Yenke make Biran proud. Not proud enough to cry. Proud enough to give arm-punch." Biran socked Yenke in the arm.  
"Oh...kay. Why so proud of Yenke?"  
"It _all_ because of Yenke!" Biran started to explain. "Yenke do chocobo good! _Both_ do good on climbing rope, and Biran do better, but Yenke do okay. Then Biran want to follow hornless ones, but Yenke remember seeing mountain path and fly horned dragon good. Also Yenke put horn-shape object in crystal and make crystal break faster. Yenke _smart._ Surpass Biran in smarting. But not fighting!"  
With that, Biran tackled Yenke and started play fighting with him. Gippal rolled his eyes and stepped away from the mat, motioning for Butz to do the same.

Dona and Barthello withered down the crystal and finally drove the final chisel into the crystal. The remains shattered and Barthello took his next clue.  
"Make your way to the Pit Stop at the top of this tower," he read. "Thank you for your help, Dona."  
"Don't thank me, Barthello," Dona said. They started walking up the stairs. "I want to win, but for a long time, I didn't think we could. But you've been supporting us very well and I'm starting to feel we could win this. . . . Assuming we're not out already."  
They climbed the tower and faced Gippal on the Pit Stop mat.  
"Dona and Barthello," Gippal said, "you're team number three!"  
"Thank you, Gippal," Barthello said.  
"Congrats on making the final four."  
"It's the final _one_ we're aiming for," Dona informed Gippal. "We don't need a reminder about how close we are until the end."  
"Yikes. Scaaaary. You got it, Dona. I'll keep updates to myself from now on."  
"Good."

Fran and Balthier both started swimming back to the stairs to add a newly-found shard to their pile. Balthier gave Fran a thumbs-up underwater. They arose and added the two shards to their pile, making theirs now the exact same size as Zell and Ma's. It was three to three.  
"It's up to luck now," Balthier said. "Good luck, Fran."  
"Same to you," she replied.  
They dove under to search for more. A short time later, Zell emerged and looked with shock at their pile, which jumped from one to three.  
"Gah! They caught up!" Zell screamed. "Gotta find more! Gotta find more!"  
"Like this?" Ma said, holding up another shard.  
"Yes! One more to go!" Zell hugged Ma, then freaked out about wasting time and dove into the water.  
Ma smiled and added the shard to their pile. "I'm glad I did this race. No matter what."

All four divers failed to find new shards as they each searched a couple times. The shards were becoming scarce with only three shards remaining.  
Ma came back yet again empty-handed. She dove under yet again to find a shard, but was having issues with her goggles again and let a bit of water into them to stop them from fogging up.  
Zell rose out of the water again. He held a shard high in the air and shouted, "YEEEEAAAAAH!" He handed over the five shards and received his next clue, but had to wait for Ma to return, since she had no idea they were done.  
Balthier and Fran emerged from the water. Balthier groaned and Fran sighed.  
"Good show, Zell," Balthier said. He offered Zell a handshake.  
Zell looked curiously at the hand, then wiped off his own and shook his hand. "Hey, man, beat Dona and Barthello! Get those shards. I want them _gone_ like a stain on your favorite shirt."  
"Right, we will," Balthier said. He and Fran dove underwater and swam past Ma, who was making her return to the surface.  
"Zelly! You did it!" she cheered.  
"Pit Stop time, Ma!" Zell said. He read the clue for Ma, though he had already read it in private.  
They raced to the top of the tower and found Gippal and the mat waiting for them. They stepped on the mat and waited for the good news.  
"Ma and Zell," Gippal said, "you're team number four!"  
"Booya!" Ma said. "Was that right?"  
"Sure is!" Zell replied. "We're still in the race and- Wait, team number _four_?"  
Gippal nodded.  
"Aww _man_! That means Dona and Barthello are already here." He scoffed his foot on the ground as if to kick dirt. "Oh well. At least our number one competition is gone."  
"And what about those girls, Zelly!?" Ma said. "Girls are competition, too."  
"They were first again you know," Gippal said.  
"Really? Wow. They're kinda kicking our butts then!"

Fran found her third shard and dove underwater, but turned back when she saw Balthier approaching with a shard of his own. They handed off their five shards and took their clue. Balthier grabbed his clothes and they raced to the top of the tower.  
They reached the top and jogged to the mat with sad background music added after the fact.  
"Welcome to Walse Tower," Butz said to them.  
"Cheers," Balthier replied.  
"Fran and Balthier," Gippal said, "you're the last team to arrive."  
"Bugger."  
"I'm sorry to tell you, you've both been eliminated from the race."  
"That's all right," Balthier said. "I guess this leading man is in the wrong race."  
"Seems everybody was gunning for you," Gippal said. "Think the delays finally took you two down?"  
"The delays have been deadly," Fran said, "but no. We were eliminated by poor luck. Poor luck in the detour. Poor luck in the flight over here. It wasn't our day."  
"Nor our race," Balthier added.  
The sky pirates waved to Gippal, then walked together toward the staircase. They slowly walked down, hand-in-hand, as the screen slowly faded to black.


	28. Episode 10, Part 1

Gippal walked through a room with many elegant, marble columns. On the walls were beautifully-carved patterns and in the direct center of the room was an indentation with vines and other plants growing from it. At his feet was about an inch of water. "I'm standing in the sunken Walse Tower, which used to hold the famous water crystal. What used to protect the element of water in a world while also sealing in a great evil power, is now the ninth pitstop in a race around worlds.  
"Teams raced from ruins in Elicoor II to what they later learned to be the interior of a meteor heading straight for the _Fantasy 5_ verse's merged world. After crash landing on the planet, they searched for a hidden city and met with the roadblock, where teams had to navigate a yellow chocobo around the entire world. Reina and Faris showed off their knowledge of the world and chocobos as Reina pulled the sisters out to an early lead, which they never lost. Dona tried to trick Ma, but it didn't buy her as much time as she intended as Ma caught back up and she and Zell even passed Dona and Barthello because of a navigation error. Reina and Faris reached the Castle of Bal and after much thought, decided to use the last delay in the race, an Xing, on Fran and Balthier. The Xing caused very little damage to them, however, as the Ronso were following right behind them. But as Fran and Balthier and Biran and Yenke left in last place, they took different routes to the sunken tower, with Biran and Yenke's route paying off. Fran and Balthier attempted the luck-based crystal-diving detour and their luck ran out as they were the eighth team eliminated from the race.  
Now, with only four teams left, they are racing for the last three spots to compete in the final leg for one-million gil. Will Reina and Faris be able to remain a front-running team, even though they are the only team to have used up their Fast Forward? And how will teams react to the loss of Fran and Balthier: a team most other teams felt was the strongest in the race. Reina and Faris, who were first to arrive at 10:10 am, will depart at 10:10 pm."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 1st to Depart: 10:10 pm]  
Reina ripped open the clue as she bounced with excitement. "Climb the mystical ladder to your next destination."  
"What ladd-" Faris began, but stopped when she turned and saw a ladder in the room where the crystal used to be. It led up into what seemed to be water, but why the water was not rushing down on them was unknown.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now climb up the ladder to reach their next destination. Their destination is on Earth in the _Parasite Eve 2_ verse."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
Faris was first on the ladder and climbed up. She held her breath before entering the water, as did Reina who was just behind her. The water was actually a very thin layer and as the girls climbed through, they did not get wet at all. They were in a small, circular room with with water in the middle and a ring of grates around the edge of the room. There was a handrail between the grates and the water, which was easy for the girls to crawl through. They circled the room and found a ladder leading to a hatch in the roof. Faris pushed the hatch open and they found themselves on a very small island. It was only about 4 meters in diameter and was surrounded by water. And despite it being night, it seemed to be day. Directly in the center of the island was a clue box.  
Reina jumped up and took the clue. She pulled out two different cards. One was red, while the other green. "Fast Forward," she said, discarding the green card. "We already did it, so that's out." She opened the red roadblock card. "Roadblock: Who's constantly puzzled?"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this roadblock, that team member must find a slide puzzle inside a shrine. There are four slide puzzles in total and for each puzzle there is a different solution. There are a total of three possible solutions, and all three solutions are placed prominently on a sign. On this four by four grid, there are four distinct red tiles, four distinct blue tiles, and four distinct yellow tiles, with some brown tiles as decoys. It is a typical slide puzzle in the sense that there will always be one blank space. The two tricks teams must realize is that firstly, they must make each row combination in the direction intended, be it top-to-bottom, left-to-right, or corner-to-corner. Secondly, there is a symbol of a circle with a dot on it pictured on the slide puzzle behind the moveable pieces in the lower-right corner. This dot is pictured in each of the solutions' depiction to hint to the teams that the symbol must be visible when their solution is complete, meaning the blank space on the puzzle must be in the lower-right. Once they have their solution, they must check a set of boxes: red, blue, and yellow. Each puzzle has its own set of boxes and only one box contains their clue."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Sounds like yer kinda thing," Faris said.  
"I suppose so." The pyramid was visible in the distance, but there was no path leading away from the island. She started to walk toward the water, assuming it required a swim, but noticed a sign on the island that read "No Swimming" and was prominent _Amazing FF Race_ colors. Below the words it read "Hours of Operation: 8:00 am to 6:00 pm."  
"We be waitin' then."

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, 2nd to Depart: 10:29 pm]  
Biran tore through the clue and read it to Yenke. "Climb mystical ladder to next destination."  
"Yenke first!" Yenke raced to the ladder, barely edging out Biran. They started up and Yenke's foot accidentally slipped off and got poked on Biran's horn. Yenke was in pain, while Biran was laughing.  
"Yenke's foot dared to battle Biran's horn! Nothing beat Biran's horn. Yenke is footless now!"  
"Yenke has _two_ feet though!" Yenke argued, but Biran wasn't having any of it.  
They continued up the ladder and climbed to the strange aquarium-like room. They pulled themselves under the railing and up the second ladder to the island with Reina and Faris.  
"Ahoy," Faris welcomed them.  
The Ronso, interpretting her words as crude, ignored her and pulled their clue from the box.  
"Fast Forward!" Yenke shouted, pulling out the green card.  
"Biran not sure," Biran said. "Lots of teams try for it."  
"But it guarantee Ronso in final race!" Yenke said.  
"What Ronso need do if _not_ fasting?" Biran grabbed the roadblock clue. "Who constantly puzzled?"  
"What!? Another puzzle!?"  
"Ronso _must_ do Fast Forward then. Only way to win!"

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, 3rd to Depart: 10:34 pm]  
Dona ripped open the clue and read it to Barthello. She sighed after reading about and then seeing the water on the ceiling. "In a bad mood already," she mumbled to herself.  
"I'll go first," Barthello said. "Maybe I can block the water with my body."  
"Good, but I don't think water works like that."  
Barthello led Dona up the ladder and was very pleased that he emerged dry. He was more pleased when Dona emerged dry as well. He helped her through the railing and up the final ladder to the island.  
The Ronso were still by the clue box, but Dona had no problem pushing through to get a clue of her own. She took the clue back to Barthello and opened it on an empty portion of the very small island. She started waving the Fast Forward in front of him. "What do you think?"  
"If we fail, it is over," he said. "But I'll follow you. Whatever you choose."  
"Good. We're going to do the Fast Forward just as soon as we can get off this stupid island."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Last to Depart: 10:47 pm]  
Ma ripped open the clue and read it to Zell. "Climb the mystical ladder to your next destination."  
"Will do!" Zell shouted. "Only two more legs, Ma! Then we've got the win!"  
"Oh, don't jinx us, Zelly!"  
The two climbed the set of ladders and joined the other teams on the island. All teams had picked their own corner of the island to sit and discuss privately their plans regarding the upcoming leg. Ma and Zell copied them and did the same after Zell retrieved their clue.  
"We might be screwed if we don't get it," Zell said. "But look at our competition, Ma. I think we can do it!"  
"If not, it'll be tough," she said. "I just hope that either all three of us go for it, or none of us go for it. So that we have a safety net."  
"We don't need a safety net, Ma! This is a race. All or nothing! Die or be killed!"  
"Actually, I think it's-"  
"We can _do it,_ Ma! Let's just go for it! Go for the gold!"

-{Ma & Zell: Interview}-

Ma and Zell stood on the island, facing the water. The other teams were behind them, trying to rest despite the strange hour of the sun. Both spoke quietly; just slightly louder than a whisper.  
"So, from what we gathered, all teams minus Reina and Faris are goin' for it," Zell said. "We heard them talking and well, we're all constantly glancing at the Fast Forward to decide if it's worth it. Problem is, our biggest competition is a shoe-in if more than one team goes for it. But I don't think that's anything we can change."  
"We're going to try the Fast Forward and hope for the best," Ma said. "This is intense!"

-{End Interview}-

[8:00 am]  
All teams were standing on the island, wide awake and ready to go. Nobody was quite sure what was going to happen until a large, metallic path started to slide toward the island. It was connected to a metallic pier not far from the island, but the pier seemed to be pointless and go nowhere. Once the path aligned with the island, all teams sprinted across it and soon found that the pier was not pointless as there was a protected staircase that led them to an underwater tunnel. There was also a sign in front of them that pointed directions. It said "Fast Forward" and pointed right, toward the underwater tunnel. "Roadblock" was listed as to the left, but there was no path at the end of the pier.  
Most teams didn't question it as they were already on their way to the Fast Forward, but Reina and Faris remained confused. It took a couple seconds before the path behind them started to move back to its starting position, which created a long bridge to a new area. The two raced across it and followed a series of rooms. The first was a garden, followed by a strange power plant that seemed to be gaining energy from a strange, bulbous creature. The girls looked at each other with a great deal of concern, but finally kept running.  
They finally reached the shrine and were forced to separate. Faris was forced to wait in a small area between the shrine and the power plant. She was able to see the sign that listed each of the possible combinations of symbols. The first combination was circled in red, then the second in yellow, and the third in blue. The symbols were Egyptian or at least Egyptian-like. After each circled combination was a circle with a dot in the middle.  
Reina continued down the path after a quick glimpse at the combinations and faced her slide puzzle on the wall. She was crammed in an area that was fairly dark and only lit by small lights above her chosen puzzle, which caused her hands to create shadows on the puzzle whenever she tried to move it. Large stone pillars and statues surrounded her in an elegant, yet creepy room. Just to the left of her puzzle were three sarcophaguses, each with a red, yellow, or blue trim. On the puzzle were colored stripes. The yellow stripe was at the top and bottom of the first column, the blue was at the left and right of the first row, and the red was at the bottom-left and upper-right moving diagonally across the puzzle.  
"Oh boy," Reina mumbled.

Meanwhile, the large group of three teams raced through the underwater passage to find the pyramid. Zell was in front while Dona brought up the rear. They followed a flight of stairs back to the surface where they found a dirt path. It led into the distance where a large, museum-like building with a lot of windows awaited, but there was also a dirt trail that broke off to the right and led into a forest. They followed the forest trail and soon found a clue box containing the explanation of their Fast Forward.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"This is the second of two predetermined Fast Forwards. With a Fast Forward, teams can follow a set of instructions and bypass all remaining obstacles in the leg and go straight to the Pit Stop. However, teams can only use the Fast Forward once, so they must decide when it's most advantageous to use it. In this Fast Forward, teams must solve a difficult puzzle on top of the model pyramid. There are four switches on top of the pyramid: blue, red, yellow, and white. Using a strange clock-like dial (which begins misaligned), teams must figure out the relationship between given symbols and numbers to figure out how many times they must push each switch. The first to figure out this puzzle will be awarded the Fast Forward. But coming so close to the finale, do they want to risk the possibility of another team taking the Fast Forward and leaving them in last place? The choice is up to them."

"A puzzle," Biran muttered. "Well, two horns better than one!"

Zell raced to the top of the pyramid to see what they were up against. The pyramid, contrary to most pyramids, had a flat roof. And quite a large one at that. There was a large, golden statue of a head directly in front of him. Near the four corners of the roof were each of the colored panels. Zell walked to a panel and stepped on it. It shined brightly while he was on it, then stopped when he stepped off.

"The hell is _this_?" Dona said, kicking a small misaligned dial. It spun slightly as she kicked it. Barthello bent down and started turning it, but stopped when he realized he didn't know what it meant yet.  
"I think we should do like the other teams," Barthello said. "Let's investigate first. Learn everything we need to know. Then we will try to figure things out.  
Dona agreed and followed Barthello to the pyramid, leaving the Ronso to stare at the dial.

"It not lined up right," Yenke said. He crouched down and adjusted the dial until it made an accurate picture. In the center was an engraving of a muscular man and around the edges were markings like a clock, only it did not have numbers. Instead, it had a series of lines and dots. Where the 1 belonged, there was a dot. Where there should have been a 2 there were two dots. The 12's spot was held by two lines and two dots.  
"...Biran is confused," Biran said. "Ronso look around. Not let other teams know what Ronso found."  
"Yenke like plan." Before the left the dial, Yenke spun the dial so that it did not line up. The two headed off to check out the roof with the other two teams.

All teams were searching frantically, but none were making any progress of any sort.  
"Zelly?" Ma said. "Do you think we should give up?"  
"Don't _say_ such things, Ma!" Zell said. "We _will_ get the Fast Forward, we _will_ make it to next leg, and we _will_ win the whole thing! Trust me!"  
"I hope you're right, Zelly."

Reina started sliding the pieces around and finally aligned all the blue pieces in the top row. Nothing happened. She shouted out to Faris, "what were the blue symbols supposed to be again?"  
"Leaf, feather, compass, egg!" Faris's reply came. She had obviously made up names for the symbols, but they were good enough names that Reina saw her mistake and started sliding pieces around to make the proper order. Once she formed it, there was still no click, but then she remembered the circle with a dot in the lower-right corner. She slid random pieces out of the way until the circle and dot were revealed. The blue sarcophagus made a clicking noise. Reina stepped away from the puzzle and slid the lid off the blue sarcophagus. She searched inside, but there was nothing.  
"It work!?" Faris shouted.  
"Yeah, but no clue," came the echoing reply.  
"Drat."

Barthello and Dona headed back to the dial and started looking it over again. Dona started spinning it until she finally lined the icons back up.  
"It's like a clock," Barthello said.  
"But no numbers," Dona added. "Maybe these symbols somehow _make_ numbers?"

-{Dona & Barthello: Interview}-

Dona and Barthello stood outside a wooden railing to what seemed to be a semi-deserted two-story motel. It was dark outside.  
"Barthello and I are great at puzzles," Dona said. "On our world, we had to do a _ton_ of these annoying puzzles. They were so hard to follow, but we learned to put two and two together. Well _I_ did, anyway. Barthello only learned to pretend to stay awake while I worked."

-{End Interview}-

"Check it out, Ma!" Zell shouted in a hushed voice. Ma followed Zell's shout to a small section beside the pyramid where there was a display that seemed highly relevant. There were four panels, all the colors of the pyramid roof's squares. The top panel was red and beside it was a line and a dot. Below that was a yellow panel with three dots beside it. Then a blue panel with four dots, followed by a white with two lines. "Write that down, Ma!"  
Ma, who already had a notepad and pen out, started copying down the notes they'd found. "Do you know what it means, Zelly?"  
"Notta clue! But I'm sure we'll figure it out."

Biran and Yenke stomped around on the pyramid's roof, touching random tiles. Yenke was bouncing on a couple to see if they go down. The panel continued to light up then turn off with each jump. Biran finally pulled him away from the white panel.  
"Ronso wasting their time," Biran said. "Ronso not smart enough to beat hornless ones. Need all the help Ronso can get. Time to give up."  
"Yenke agrees," Yenke said quickly. The Ronso raced down the stairs on the side of the pyramid and headed through the underwater tunnel in search of the roadblock.  
"Yenke will do it," Yenke said while they ran through the tunnel. "Yenke will try puzzle and try not to disappoint Biran."  
"Biran will watch and hope Yenke does good. Biran... _Biran believes in Yenke_!"  
Yenke smiled the ugliest smile ever, like any good Ronso. They raced down the bridge and through the garden and power plant, then emerged by the sign of the combinations. Both started looking over the sign while Faris tried to see the sign around the Ronso, who made better doors than windows.  
Yenke took a long time, but finally raced off to actually face the challenge. Biran sat beside Faris and looked at her curiously.  
"You tell Ronso to 'ahoy,'" he said.  
"My way of sayin' 'hi,'" she informed him.  
"Ohh. Biran not take it like that at _all._ That why Ronso give the cold, hornless shoulder."  
"What be the reason fer the horn talk? A horn isn't all that makes a Ronso a Ronso, is it?"  
Biran thought for a moment. "Also blue hair! And large hands."  
"Aye. I knew thar be more."  
"Biran likes purple-haired one."  
Faris patted Biran on the back. "I like yeh too, blue."

Dona and Barthello found the display the Dinchts had previously found with the colors and corresponding lines and dots. Barthello started writing notes on his beefy arm with the colors and the lines. After jotting everything down, he and Dona raced up to the top of the pyramid.

"That's it!" Zell shouted. He and Ma were looking at the dial, which somebody had left in the aligned position.  
"It's like a clock," Ma noted. She pulled out her notepad and started converting the symbols based on the dial. She spoke outloud as she copied them down. "So there are...six reds. Three yellows... Four blues... Where is the two line- Oh, there. So ten whites."  
"Okay, awesome!" Zell shouted. "Let's get to the top and start putting these in!"

Reina slid the final yellow block into the correct position and slid others away from the circle with a dot. The yellow sarcophagus clicked. She headed to the sarcophagus and slid off the lid, revealing a clue and a map of the area.  
"Got it!" she shouted. She raced out of the shrine with the clue and map in hand and rejoined with Faris.  
"Good job, sis!" Faris said. She took the map from her sister and unfolded it while Reina read the clue.  
"Make your way inside the Shelter to the Sleeping Quarters," Reina read.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now make their way inside this strange, underground complex. The Sleeping Quarters are found on Basement 1, or B1, as listed on the map they received."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Thar she is," Faris said, pointing to the Sleeping Quarters on B1. "Now just gotta figure out how ter get thar."  
Faris and Reina looked over their maps and looked at their surroundings. The area they were in right now was some form of nature preserve built inside a large dome, lit by artificial lights. There were large, metallic structures in the middle that made the racers question whether or not anything including the trees, were natural or not. They finally started heading toward the main observation area as listed on the map. It had displays of different trees and plants complete with museum-esque signs describing the plants, plus buttons that would make a voice explain it. In the observation area was an elevator, so Reina pushed the button and the sisters waited for the elevator to arrive.

Zell reached the top of the pyramid and saw Barthello already starting to put in the code. He stepping on the red panel, backing off of it, then stepping back on. Zell made an exaggerated wave of his arm to encourage Ma to get to the top faster. Once she was there, he raced over to the red panel and started stepping on it as well. Just as he reached the red panel, Barthello moved over to the yellow panel, all the while looking at the notes on his arm.  
"Quick, Ma! How many reds!?" Zell shouted.  
"Six!" she shouted back.  
Zell started jumping up and down to disengage the button and re-engage it.  
Meanwhile, Barthello had pushed the yellow button three times and was moving over to the blue square. "Dona," Barthello said quietly. Dona ran over to him and got within whisper distance. "I know this one is four, because each dot is worth one, but how much were lines? The white is two lines."  
"Ten, you oaf," Dona replied. "It's not that hard to remember."  
Zell moved to the yellow space and hopped up and down three times, all the while watching Barthello curiously and hoping he was doing something wrong. Barthello moved to the white panel and started stepping on it. Zell freaked out and jumped off the yellows and moved to the blues, jumping on it four times. He raced to the white panel and started hopping up and down on it, activating it a lot faster than Barthello was and making it really hard to tell which of the two had actually made the panel light up.  
Ma and Dona stood back and watched. Ma crossed her fingers and held her breath, while Dona crossed her arms and at a certain point, looked away because she couldn't take the tension. Finally, the mouth of the large, golden head right behind Ma opened and inside were three boxes labeled for the three teams that had not taken the Fast Forward, which were Biran/Yenke, Ma/Zell, and Dona/Barthello. All boxes were locked, but then there was a clicking sound as one of the boxes opened.  
Ma and Dona both moved toward the boxes and tried to open their boxes. The one that opened was Dona and Barthello's.  
"Got it," Dona said. She tried to keep her cool, but the happiness was obviously overwhelming her and actually put a smile on her face.  
"NOOOOOOOO!" Zell shouted.  
"Good job," Ma said to Dona and Barthello. She then turned her attention to Zell. "Come on, Zelly. We have to catch up!"  
"SUUUUUCK!" Zell joined Ma and the two raced out of the pyramid area to get back on track.  
Dona opened the clue and read it. "Congratulations on winning the Fast Forward. Make your way to the parking garage on B2, where you will be driven to the Pit Stop in Dryfield."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Having won the Fast Forward, Dona and Barthello can now skip all tasks proceed directly to the motel in Dryfield, the Pit Stop for this leg of the race."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
Dona and Barthello headed out of the small forest that held the pyramid and into the observation area. They found the elevator and entered. Barthello pushed the button for B2. He remained still as the elevator started to slowly go down, when suddenly Dona jumped up on him.  
"We're in the final three!" she shouted.  
"We can win this!" Barthello said, surprisingly enthusiastically.  
They started holding hands and dancing around the elevator, which considering the dancers, was very disturbing. When the elevator dinged from reaching floor B2, both immediately released each other and stood tall and still as if nothing had happened. The two followed a path to the parking garage, where a man opened the door for them to enter. They walked out to a van with an opened door. There was a man that helped them inside and handed each a bottle of water before closing the door behind them and getting in the driver's seat. The van drove out of the garage and headed toward Dryfield. Dona and Barthello kicked back and waited.


	29. Episode 10, Part 2

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in Last Place]  
Zell and Ma found the shrine and pulled out the roadblock clue to read it a second time.  
"Constantly puzzled," Zell read. He started stroking his chin. "I suppose I'm more constantly puzzled, but you're better at puzzles. Is it a trick?"  
"I don't think so, Zelly," Ma said. "I'll do it. I can do puzzles."  
Ma headed inside to join Yenke in doing slide puzzles. All he was doing was copying the pattern Reina had on her puzzle. He had put all the yellows in order, but was trying to figure out why that was not enough to open his sarcophagus.  
"What wrong?" Yenke said. The camera zoomed in on his blank spot, which was not lined up with the circle and dot in the lower-right corner. He started sliding random pieces around until it finally popped open the yellow sarcophagus. Inside he found a clue and a map. He pulled it out and started shouting to Biran and running out to get him. "Biran! Biran! Yenke did it!"

-{Yenke: Interview}-

Yenke was positioned near the shrine for an interview. "Yenke did notice circle, but did not understand it. Did not realize it need to be seen. But Yenke remember see it on sign. Memorized whole sign. But Yenke bad at puzzles. When Yenke do slide puzzles before, Yenke just break and make pieces fall out. Then put them back where they go. But not possible with shrine! Shrine big and made of stone. Yenke only try it a little. So Yenke just copy pink hair. It make Yenke realize circle important. But Yenke lucky! Same solution for pink hair was solution for Yenke!"

-{End Interview}-

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Yenke opened his clue and read it to Biran. "Make way inside Shelter to Sleeping Quarters."  
Biran opened the map and the Ronso started searching for the sleeping quarters. They slowly turned the pages and pointed, then shook their heads and turned another page. Goofy music was added to the background of their footage before they finally found the sleeping quarters on the map and headed to the elevator.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Reina and Faris made their way through the strange, futuristic basement. Everything was metal except the floors, and the constant gray color made their whole environment very bland. Even the floor was a tile with a grayish-brown color. The doors were labeled, though most were labeled with numbers that meant nothing to the racers. They walked along what can best be described as a hallway, since all the rooms of the floor intersected there. Beneath the metal paths that connected the doors to each other was a murky water. Faris consulted the map often, prompting Reina to, at times, grab her arm and redirect her so she wouldn't fall in the water.  
They found what Faris claimed was the sleeping quarters and headed inside. The room was full of bland, white-sheeted bunk beds. Each bunk had a magazine on it. Sure enough, there was a clue box in the room.  
Faris grabbed the clue and ripped it open. "Detour: Decipher Code or Discover Code."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In Decipher Code, teams must try to hack a computer by discovering the password. The computer has been infected with the anti-Cloud virus and has a special password protecting it. Among the twelve, monthly, magazine issues in the sleeping quarters is an article about the Cloud Anti-virus. They must find this article to decipher the password in the laboratory one floor below in B2. The password, "FINALFANTASY" is scrolling in the background, but they must re-write the code in a special way in order to gain access. Once on the computer, they will be given a four-digit code to open a box outside the parking garage. The task is not physical, but it requires not only searching for an article in several magazines, but also understanding the process to get the new password. But teams with a good eye for searching and mind for ciphers, could finish quickly.  
"In Discover Code, teams must get to floor B3 by sliding through a garbage chute and, you guessed it, dig through trash. Among the trash will be four numbers, not all of which are as simple as a piece of paper with a number. Teams must find these four numbers and put them into the box outside the parking garage. The order of the numbers _is_ important, so teams will also have to find the correct permutation before they gain access to their next clue. The task is only a little bit physical, but largely luck-based. A lucky team could finish very quickly, while an unlucky team could take a very long time."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 2nd Place]  
"No garbage please," Reina pleaded with Faris.  
"Aye. But computers? Gyar," Faris sighed.  
The girls started searching the different magazines on each of the beds. The magazine, called _Aeris_ , was not a terribly thick magazine, but it did not have an index nor table of contents, plus the articles did not always start on their own page. Reina picked up the November issue, while Faris took the March issue.

Ma slid the puzzle pieces around and created the blue line at the top, which opened the blue sarcophagus. She checked inside, only to find nothing. She could hear Zell outside as he loudly paced back and forth. She looked at Reina and Yenke's puzzles with the completed yellow puzzle and decided to try to create the red puzzle. She ran back to the sign where Zell was pacing to check it. He was very excited when she ran back, but his excitement quickly faded when he saw her checking the sign a second time.  
"No go, I guess," Zell whined.  
"Sorry, Zelly. But I think I've narrowed it down. The clue says the winning puzzle is random, so I'm not doing the puzzle that two people have already done. Just because of the odds."  
"Good idea, Ma!" Zell seemed to be in higher spirits by his mom's planning. He yelled several words of encouragement to her as she headed back into the shrine.

"Nothing!" Reina said.  
"Same 'ere," Faris replied.  
Both girls put their magazines back on the bed where they'd found moved onto their next magazines. Reina picked up the May issue, while Faris picked up the April.

Biran and Yenke ran through the hallway and into the sleeping quarters and found the clue box.  
Biran took the clue and read it. "Detour: Decider Code or Discover Code."  
"Uhh, decider?" Faris asked, looking up from her magazine. "Methinks it be 'decipher.'"  
"Whatever whatever!" Biran shouted. He punched Yenke in the arm. "That for being dumb!"  
"Rubber and glue, Biran! Rubber and glue!" Yenke shouted. "Pick detour already!"  
"What _you_ doing?" Biran asked Faris.  
"Decipher Code," she replied.  
"It involve...reading? Biran thinks the other one!"  
"Ronso play in trash!" Yenke said.  
Biran and Yenke headed out of the sleeping quarters and found the Sterilization Room fairly easily. It was just north of the sleeping quarters. There was a large garbage chute on the wall with a red-and-yellow arrow pointing down into it.  
"Cannonball!" Biran shouted.  
"Cannonball! Cannonball!" Yenke echoed.  
Biran slid into the chute and wrapped one arm around his knees and held himself in place with the other. "Yenke need to give Biran a few horn-seconds before going in. Otherwise, Yenke might put Ronso butt in Biran's horn!"  
"Yenke agrees. Will count."  
Biran released his grip on the wall and slid down the chute. His screams could be heard slowly dissipating as he slid down.  
"One-horn, two-horn, three-horn," Yenke counted all the way up to "ten-horn." He positioned himself in the chute and slid down to join Biran. He slid down a slide that took a couple bends to ensure the racers weren't outright falling two stories. He would've slid very smoothly because of his hairy body, but his horn scraped the top the whole way. There was a gash just to the left of where Yenke's horn was grinding up because of Biran before him. He finally fell out of the chute and landed on an old tire beside Biran, who was waiting anxiously.  
"Hurry, lazy Ronso!" Biran shouted. He and Yenke quickly started searching the large piles of garbage for the numbers.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in Last Place]  
"There!" Ma said, sliding the final block away from the circle with a dot. Once it was unveiled, the red sarcophagus clicked open. Ma reached in and found a clue and map. "YESSS! I GOT IT, ZELLY!"  
"OH YEAAAAH!" Zell raced into the shrine area to read through the clue with Ma.  
"Make your way inside the Shelter to the Sleeping Quarters."  
"Let's DO it!" Zell shouted. He and Ma raced for the observation area and found the elevator.

"Found it!" Reina shouted. She held up the September issue of _Aeris_ and called Faris over to read it over. Both read the section about the Cloud Anti-virus and the further they got, the more confused their faces were.  
"So...yeh alphabetize the letters," Faris said slowly, "then...say how many of each letter there were?"  
"Unless it only appears once," Reina added. "Well, let's try it, I suppose."  
Faris pulled out the map and located the laboratory with the computer in it. It was on floor B2. Reina and Faris grabbed their things and put the magazine back on the bed, since they were told not to remove the magazines from the sleeping quarters.

Yenke rummaged through the trash pile and threw tons of it off the top of his pile and onto Biran's pile. Biran shouted at him, but stopped shouting when Yenke pulled out what looked like a T-square, only it was in the shape of a 4.  
"That must be one!" Biran said. "It look like a four!"  
"Yenke will remember this!" Yenke replied. He tossed the 4 aside and picked a new area to search.  
"Maybe this a one?" Biran said, pulling out a rolled up newspaper.  
"If that true, then there many ones." Yenke pointed to several objects that were a simple line that could be interpreted as a 1. "Yenke think if there a one, it will have stupid bottom line and limp-horn on top. To make it look like fancy one."  
"Biran agrees. Keep looking, Yenke! No time for talk!"

Reina and Faris stepped into the messy laboratory and found one of the four computers set up for the teams. Both looked at the computers as if it were the first time they had ever seen them. It may very well have been their first time. Reina poked at one of the keys, which turned the screen on. There was a display of all the numbers and letters in numerical and alphabetical order. It was on a 13x3 grid with numbers in the top row, accompanied also by a backspace, clear, and space key. The other two rows were the alphabet. Whenever Reina pushed a key on the keyboard, the corresponding letter or number on the screen made a brief indent to indicate that it had been pressed.  
Above the illustrated keyboard was a bar at the top that read "! Please enter password." There was a cute, green worm crawling on this bar. In the background were the words FINALFANTASY over and over, scrolling slowly to the left.  
"So what's the password?" Reina asked. "We know how to scramble it -well, sort of- but...what is it?"  
"Only word I be seein' be the words in the back," Faris said. "Final fantasy."  
"Okay, so we rearrange the letters and say how many there are? Gosh, so complicated!"

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in Last Place]  
Ma and Zell found the sleeping quarters and pulled out their next clue.  
"Detour: Decipher Code or Discover Code?" Ma asked.  
"I know which one _I'd_ pick," Zell said, "but I don't think you want to play in trash. So we'll try the decipher one."  
"Thanks, Zelly," Ma said.  
After reading the details, they started looking through the magazines. Zell picked the May issue, while Ma picked September.

"Work work work. Work work work." Yenke paced around in the trash, kicking things over with his feet. The Ronso were struggling to find anything that could resemble numbers. "Yenke has found one. But Biran? Noooo."  
"Yenke should whine less!" Biran shouted. He, too, was becoming discouraged by the lack of items. "Maybe there just a lot of ones. Maybe code is 4111."  
"Maybe. But Yenke thinks not."  
"Neither does Biran."

"Found it!" Ma shouted happily.  
"No WAY!" Zell jumped to his feet and tossed his magazine back on the bed.  
"I thought it might be this one. I saw the pages kind of creased open like somebody has already read it."  
"You're a genius, Ma!"  
Ma and Zell read about the Cloud Anti-virus and both had strange looks on their faces, but finally Zell at least pretended to understand what was going on. They put down the magazine and headed to B2 to find the laboratory.

Reina and Faris were smiling widely as they inserted the code into the computer. After every button they pressed, Reina would giggle.  
"So coooool!" she said. "We press a button and the button on the screen is pressed! And that worm is _adorable_."  
"We do _magic_ and yer impressed with this box," Faris muttered with a smile.  
Reina watched the cute worm inch across the top of the screen while Faris typed in the rest of the code. Suddenly a "password failed" box appeared. "Oh no."  
"We must er put somethin' in wrong," Faris said. She started reading through the password they'd written down on a piece of paper when Ma and Zell walked into the lab.  
"Hey, guys!" Reina said with a wave.  
"Hey! Good to see ya!" Zell waved back. "And glad to see you're still here. We might still be in this!"  
"Did Yenke ever finish the roadblock? I'm kinda worried for him."  
"Oh don't worry about him," Ma said. "His solution was the same as yours, so he just copied."  
"Oh. I guess I should've covered that. . . ."  
Zell took a seat in front of one of the computers and pushed a button to wake up the computer. He saw the words scrolling in the background and pointed them out to Ma.  
"I guess we just have to unscramble that," Ma said. She pulled out her notebook and started writing down letters. She started by writing "A3" to mean that there were three A's.  
"Got it!" Faris shouted. She pointed out the four-digit code that appeared on the screen to Reina and wrote the code down. "Let's try 'er out."  
"Right." Reina turned her attention to the Dinchts. "Good luck, guys!"  
"Same to you!" Zell waved to them. When they left the room, he turned his attention back to the code Ma was deciphering. She wrote down "A3F2ILN2STY" on her paper.  
"Try that," she told Zell.  
He typed the code into the program and the screen changed to output four numbers: 5462. Ma wrote the numbers down and the two left the room...after a quick high-five, of course.

Reina and Faris reached the parking garage entrance and found the four boxes on the ground. There was a small number pad on the top with the digits 0-9. Reina keyed in 5462 and the box clicked open. Reina reached inside and pulled out a clue and a key.  
Faris took the clue and read it aloud. "Drive yerselves 50 miles ter the motel in Dryfield."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now enter the parking garage and find the pickup truck that their key goes to. There are only four trucks, so it shouldn't take long. Then, they must drive themselves 50 miles on the only highway around to the motel in Dryfield and find their next clue box outside the lobby."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 2nd Place]  
The girls headed inside the large, underground parking garage. In the distance there was light shining in through the exit. It nicely illuminated the four pickup trucks in the garage. All the trucks seemed fairly rundown, and it was almost comical to see a nice parking garage like this one being only occupied by four crappy trucks.  
Reina handed the key to Faris, who got into the first truck and tried to start it. The truck didn't respond, so they tried a second, then a third, which finally fired up.  
"This should be interestin'," Faris said. "First time ever drivin' one of these."  
Reina fastened her seatbelt tightly and held onto the seat nervously while Faris put her own seatbelt on and gripped the steering wheel tightly. She put the car in drive and slowly headed out of the parking garage.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place]  
Ma and Zell reached the parking garage and put the code into the box. It opened and Zell removed the contents. He read the clue about the Pit Stop, then headed into the garage. He and Ma slid into the first truck, which fired up on the first attempt.  
"Oh yeaaah," Zell said. "Nice to be behind the wheel of something. I can't wait to see what this baby will do."  
Ma secured her seatbelt and held onto the belt for dear life. "Just get us there alive, okay?"  
"Psh, you worry too much, Ma!" He threw it into what he thought was drive and stepped on the pedal forcefully. The car shot backwards and had both Ma and Zell screaming bloody murder. Zell pounded on the brakes and stopped just before crashing into a wall. "Umm, sorry, Ma. The 'D' kinda looked like an 'R.'"  
"Never do that again."  
"I'll try not to, but no promises!" Having apparently learned nothing about moderation, he threw the truck into drive and slammed on the accelerator. The truck raced out of the garage and tore through the highway in the middle of the desert.

[Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place]  
"Biran found one!" Biran shouted, holding up a 5 made of twine.  
"Yenke found one, too!" Yenke shouted. He held up 2 made of carefully tied, rotten banana peels.  
"Ronso getting so close! Only one more number!"

A van arrived at an old motel in the middle of the desert. It was slightly rundown, but hardly seemed like a safety hazard. Still, the moment Dona stepped outside the van, she started complaining.  
"But we might get rooms here," Barthello argued against Dona's complaints. They followed a marked path up a flight of stairs to a motel room on the second floor.  
"So? Have you _seen_ this place? Do you really _want_ a room here?"  
Once upstairs, they headed into the marked room and walked by a nice, double bed facing a TV. The room was decorated in the true cowboy fashion as any motel in the desert should be, complete with the bull's skull hanging on the wall. They saw the mat in the bathroom where Gippal stood beside a shower. The shower curtain was closed, but the water was on as they approached. They stepped on the mat and Gippal tugged at the shower curtain. There was no response.  
"Ahem," Gippal coughed. He tugged at the curtain, this time pulling the curtain off accidentally. Inside was a nude, blonde woman who screamed and covered herself.  
"Get out get out get out!" she screamed.  
"Gaaah, right right," Gippal said. He shooed Dona and Barthello out and hastilly picked up the mat and carried it outside. He slammed the door behind him and put the mat down. Dona and Barthello stepped on and Gippal started looking around nervously. His face was bright red.  
"Greeter!" he shouted, thrusting his finger in the air. He started running around the building frantically.  
Dona and Barthello shrugged at each other and waited patiently.  
"So..." Barthello started.  
"You looked," Dona said bluntly.  
"I did not!"  
"Of course you did, admit it!"  
"It's completely untrue," Barthello stated firmly.  
"Oh just be a man, Barthello. _I_ saw and I wasn't even _looking._ It's okay, just be honest."  
Barthello hesitated. "I saw a little-"  
"You _jerk_!"Dona shouted, punching him in the arm.  
"But you said-"  
"I lied! Why would I look!?"  
Gippal returned, this time with an old, brown dog with a droopy face. He led the dog to the front of the mat and checked the dog's collar. "Flint. Flint, you are the greeter. Now please welcome these people to Dryfield."  
 _Woof! Woof!_  
"There we go," Gippal said. "Sorry about that." He looked at Barthello's red face and Dona's folded arms and closed stance. "Ho boy. Well, I think I messed a few things up. But anyway. Dona and Barthello, you're team number one!" He waited for a response, but did not get one. "Uhh, you're one of the three teams to race for the million!" Again, nothing. "And you've won a week-long stay at this very motel!"  
"Will _she_ be there?" Dona asked.  
"I didn't look!" Barthello shouted.  
"You just said you did!"  
"I only saw a little! Her umm, feet!"  
"Yeah, I'll bet. With jugs _that_ big and you were looking at her feet."  
"Gyah!" Gippal started making slashing motions at his neck to tell the cameras to cut the feed.

"Victory!" Yenke said, pulling a 6 from the garbage.  
"Hurry, Yenke!" Biran said. They raced from the large trash compactor and headed up a flight of stairs to the parking garage in B2. They found the boxes outside and started pounding numbers into the keypads.  
"Yenke does one, Biran does one!"  
"Double chances!" Biran started pulling in the numbers, starting with 6542.  
"Got it!" Yenke shouted, having put 5462 into the keypad. "First try!"  
"Good Yenke!" Biran grabbed the clue and the key and read the clue. "Drive Ronso-selves 50 miles to motel in Dryfield!"  
The Ronso ran inside and found a truck. Biran fired it up and started out of the parking garage.  
"Biran is natural driver," Biran noted of himself. It took a good two minutes before Yenke, who was reading some driving instructions, put down the parking brake for him.

Reina hopped happily in her seat as the motel started to come into view. "I see it!"  
"Yar, but I see trouble, too," Faris said, glancing in the rearview mirror. A truck just like theirs was speeding towards them and gaining quickly.

"Yeehaw!" Zell shouted. "Almost there, Ma!"  
"That's wonderful, Zelly," Ma said through gritted teeth. She held onto the seat nervously as ever, hoping her son wouldn't do anything crazy in the last big of the drive.  
Zell drove fairly close to Faris and started to pass her on the left, but decided to back off since they were closing in on the motel, which was off the road to the right in the dirt.  
Faris and Zell parked their trucks by the rundown gas station next to the motel and all four racers hopped out and raced for the clue box out in front of the green double doors leading to the lobby. Zell reached it first and removed his clue. He took it back to Ma while ripping it open. Faris grabbed hers immediately after.  
"Figure out the code to the cash register to receive your room key. This key will open the door to the Pit Stop. Warning, the last team to check in will be eliminated."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now figure out a puzzle to open the cash register in the lobby. All teams know is that there is a clue behind the counter in the lobby on a bulletin board and that the solution might require they check the opened motel rooms on the first floor. They must correctly put in the code to the register in order to receive a key, which will open a room on the second floor. Inside that room is the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here, will be eliminated."

Zell, Ma, Reina, and Faris all raced inside to find the message on the bulletin board. They all started crowding behind the counter, when finally Reina started pushing people back.  
"Okay, okay, hold up," she said. "Let's just have Ma read it to us all. That way I don't get all claustrophobic-y."  
"Works for me," Zell said.  
"Aye," Faris said.  
Ma nodded and moved forward to read the bulletin, while the rest waited on the other side of the counter as if they were motel customers. "There are two memos," Ma said. She moved to the first one. "When death came to Tombstone," she looked at the memo strangely, "umm, there's a pound sign in parenthesis, and then 'Holliday was 30 and Earp was...'" She paused again. "It's scratched out. And then it goes on with 'Not bad for gunmen of the Old West. The secret to long life: good friends and good luck.'"  
"Weird," Zell said. "What's the second one say?"  
Ma moved to the second memo and started reading. "Problems with the cash register? Don't forget! Press pound when entering the 4-digit code, and press TOTAL when you're done! Can't remember the number? Check the 'still,' and you will!"  
"Check the still?" Reina asked. "Okay, thanks for reading, Mrs. Dincht!"  
"You're welcome, Reina!" she replied.  
The four started looking around the room for clues to the solution. Zell came across a picture of Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp on the wall and started looking it over. "It mentioned these two guys," he mumbled to Ma, who approached him. He read the picture's label. "Tombstone: 1881."

"I have an idea," Reina whispered to Faris. "It talked about a _pound_ sign in both memos. The one said it was needed before entering the number. _Then_ the _first_ memo mentioned a pound right before mentioning that Holliday was 30."  
"So yeh think the first two digits be three and zero," Faris said. "Good thinkin'!"  
"We need to find out how old the other guy was. Let's check those other rooms out."  
Reina and Faris quietly left the lobby while Zell and Ma watched them leave. They waited a couple seconds before Zell finally broke the silence.  
"Follow 'em?" he said.  
"Definitely," Ma replied.  
The girls noticed they were being followed, but tried to search each room quickly so that Zell and Ma didn't know what they were looking for. They finally stopped in a room that had individual pictures of Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. The Doc Holliday one was labeled "Doc Holliday: 1851-1887" and the Wyatt Earp had the label "Wyatt Earp: 1848-1929."  
Reina jotted the numbers down on her arm before leading Faris from the room. Zell and Ma entered shortly after and found the paintings.  
"Okay, so I think we need to figure out how old they were when they were in Tombstone," Zell said. "So Earp is... Gah, I need paper."  
"Already on it," Ma said. She did the math and came up with a final answer. "Thirty-three!"  
"Great! And Holliday is..."  
Ma started to do the math. "Thirty! Oh wait, we knew that already!"  
"Doh!"

Reina and Faris raced to the cash register, completely missing the picture containing the Tombstone date.  
"So how old is Earp then?" Reina asked. "Do we know?"  
"Three years older than Holliday, see?" Faris said, pointing to their birth years."  
"Oh, good eye! Okay, so thirty-three!" Reina typed in "#3033" to the register, then pushed TOTAL. The register popped open and there were four keys in each of the money slots.  
"Yes!" they cheered as Zell and Ma entered. Faris quickly grabbed their key and closed the register.  
"Aww MAN," Zell said, scoffing his foot on the carpet.  
"Good luck, you two," Reina said to Ma and Zell.  
"Thanks," Ma said. "Hope to see you in the final three!"  
Reina and Faris swapped positions with Ma and Zell as they moved to the door and Ma and Zell to the register. The girls ran outside and up a flight of stairs to the rooms on the second floor. They tried one room, but it didn't open. Moving to the second, they tried the key and the door swung open. They raced inside and were greeted by Gippal...and a dog.  
 _Woof woof!_ _  
_"Puppy!" Reina shouted. She bent down to pet the dog while Faris rolled her eyes.  
"Reina and Faris," Gippal said, "you're the second team to arrive and one of the three teams that will be racing for the one-million gil!"  
"Woohoo!" the girls shouted. They hugged tightly and Faris eventually picked Reina up from the strength of her grip.  
"So you're happy then," Gippal said with a smile.  
"Glad ter know we made it all the way," Faris replied. "We get ter race every leg, an' if we win er don't win, it be our fault."  
"And I think we have the strength to win it," Reina said. "But we'll see. Gosh, we're so close!"

Zell pushed the TOTAL button on the register and opened it to find their key. They raced upstairs and found Gippal on the mat, alone with a dog. They stepped onto the mat and smiled at the dog.  
 _Woof woof!_  
"Zell and Ma," Gippal said, "you're team number three!"  
"YEAH!" Zell and Ma shouted. They followed it up with a chest-bump, which Ma later regretted as she rubbed her chest.  
"You're one of the three teams racing for the one-million gil prize," Gippal continued.  
"Looking forward to it, too!" Ma said cheerfully.  
"We're ready to rock! All the way to the top!" Zell added.  
"Think you can take the other two teams?" Gippal asked.  
"No doubt! They're going _down_!"  
"Well, good luck to both of you."  
"Thank you, Gippal," Ma said.

Biran and Yenke drove their truck into the motel area and headed to the clue box by the lobby. Biran opened the clue and started explaining the puzzle to Yenke, when suddenly, they heard a familiar voice.  
"Hey, hairy-boys!" Gippal said from the second floor. He was hanging over the railing, shouting at them. "Don't bother doing that. The other teams are all in. Just come on up."  
"Thank _goodness_ ," Biran said, ripping up that clue. "Biran cannot TAKE another puzzle!"  
"And Biran has not even done as many as Yenke!" Yenke said. "Ronso done with puzzles forever."  
The Ronso climbed the stairs and joined Gippal in the Pit Stop room. They stood on the mat and were greeted by a blonde woman wearing a jean jacket and black shorts.  
"Welcome to Dryfield," she said.  
"Biran and Yenke," Gippal said, "you're the last team to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you, you have been eliminated from the race. But at least you're the only team to have Ms. Brea as a greeter. We had a bit of a problem earlier, but she's since forgiven us. Yep, forgave us all over my face," Gippal pointed to a red mark in the shape of a hand on his face.  
"Ha ha! Hornless one get slapped!" Biran pointed out.  
"Yeah, but at least-"  
"Hornless host go home to howl alone. Howl alone," Yenke mocked.  
"Well we got-"  
"Hornless goatling is wearing make-up, too!" Biran pointed out. "Not enough make-up to hide strong woman slap!"  
"Gippal is little weakling. Beat up by little girl! Bwa ha ha ha."  
" _Well you two got cut from the race_! So...there!" Gippal said over their constant mockings.  
"Ronso went out in fourth place," Biran said. "Gippal not even _try_ for money! Gippal come in _zero_ place."  
"Hornless award to Gippal!" Yenke said.  
"I get paid to host," Gippal said.  
"You make a million gil?" Biran asked.  
"Well...no."  
"Gippal is hornless goatling! Work for pitiful money and never get honor of racing race!"  
"Must wait at Pit Stop alone except for beautiful woman," Yenke said.  
"Yenke!" Biran punched Yenke in the arm. "That good thing. We mock him for _bad_ thing!"  
"Bad thing like...having no horn?"  
"Exactly! Hornless! Hornless!"  
"Hornless! Hornless! Howl alone! Hornless!" Both Ronso continued to chant things until Gippal finally just slumped down on the bed and covered his head with a pillow.  
He lifed the pillow briefly. "How did anybody actually pick you two to be on this race? I can't believe somebody could actually make it through an audition tape." He put the pillow back over his head. He then grabbed a second pillow and tried to cover both ears, each with a different pillow as he left the room. The Ronso stopped chanting when he left.  
"Me Biran," Biran said, extending a hand to the woman, Aya. "What your name?"  
"Ever host reality TV show?" Yenke asked her.


	30. Episode 11, Part 1

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian]  
"This game is _ours_ ," Dona said. "The other teams have _no_ chance."  
"The Finish Line is in Spira," Barthello said. "Dona and I traveled across all of Spira. We know all the locations."  
"We're brains and brawn. No match. The other teams would be lucky to even _see_ us."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters]  
"Final leg, final win," Faris said. "Thar be no stoppin' the Tycoons!"  
"I'm really happy that this season is guaranteed a female winner," Reina said. "And hey, if you're getting one, you may as well get a second. Free of charge!"  
"We been leadin' this pack fer a while now. Jus' a little further. . . ."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son]  
"Final leg, baby!" Zell shouted.  
"Dincht power!" Ma said.  
"We've been proving and will prove again that we _rock!_ In the last like, _five_ legs we've beaten Reina and Faris more often than not, so we just gotta keep this up!"  
"And keep in front of Dona and Barthello, too. We really don't know what they'll pull out of their sleeves."  
"Neither of them even _have_ sleeves, Ma."  
"Oh, you know what I mean!"

[Announcer Gippal]  
Gippal's voice spoke over a series of recap clips of the past episodes. "Previously, on _The Amazing Final Fantasy Race_ : twelve teams set out from Bikanel Island in Spira on a race around worlds. Teams were composed of two people, each with an existing relationship. The teams prepared themselves and tried their best to stay ahead of the curve, but even the best ideas didn't help everybody. Teams that were strong on paper began to fall by the wayside, while others continued on.  
"Barret and Dyne - Celes and Cid - Cecil and Rosa - Freya and Fratley - Reno and Rude - Brahne and Garnet - Zone and Watts - Fran and Balthier - Biran and Yenke, you have been eliminated from the race.  
"Now, three teams remain. Three teams nobody would have expected, either. All three cleverly snuck under the radar to reach the finale, so now, who will take it?  
"Summoner/Guardian Dona and Barthello stuck toward the back of the pack for the majority of the race. Dona's constant whining and bossy attitude kept these two in constant hot water, starting very early on. Barthello held the team together, but was up against a wall on many mental tasks and leadership. Leaving Dona in charge, the team met with a lot of unnecessary hardships. But as the two built their relationship and came to find their place as racers, they started to move out of the back and survive to the final three. When push came to shove, this team learned that Barthello is a heck of a pusher, and Dona can shove with the best of them.  
"Sisters Reina and Faris started as a mediocre team, but soon found their sea-legs and rose up as the strongest competitors in the game. And yet, nobody noticed. They have three wins, the most in the group, but that doesn't always mean anything, seeing how Yuna and Rikku had the same score last season. Their powerful bond and complementing abilities have made them a monster team, not to mention their sneaky behavior and pseudo-alliance that indirectly caused the ousting of fellow racers Zone and Watts.  
"Mother and son team Ma and Zell started off the race strong, but faltered after a delay was used on them in the second leg. Once they recovered, they've been an unstoppable force. Zell is one of the stronger racers in the history of the show, but his headstrong attitude has attempted to get him into trouble, but Ma kept that from happening. Her purpose of keeping him in line has been keeping these two strong, but now with the stress and excitement of the final leg, will she be able to contain this firecracker?  
"Dona and Barthello, who were first to arrive at 11:48 am, will depart at 11:48 pm."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, 1st to Depart: 11:48 pm]  
"It's cold," Dona said before ripping open the clue.  
"But aren't you excited?" Barthello said happily.  
"Oh _please_ don't start that." She looked down at the clue and sighed. "A riddle. Solve my riddle before you go. How many phones in Dryfield's streets? Then proceed, go down below. To sunless mole hills where red blood sleeps."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must figure out a series of riddles that will lead them to their next clue, which is waiting inside a safe in the motel loft. Each riddle only involves counting things to get a four-digit code. When they put this into the safe, they will be able to continue."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
"So let's count phones, I guess," Dona said. "Hurry _up,_ Barthello."  
"Yes, ma'am," he replied.  
They marched out of the motel room they started in and headed down a flight of stairs to the dusty streets around the motel.

-{Dona & Barthello: Interview}-

With the night's moon and a rusted gas station as a backdrop, Dona and Barthello addressed the camera.  
"The motel is _hardly_ just a motel," Dona informed the camera. "It's a small place, but there are so many stupid things around here. It's a miniature city."  
"There's the motel, a convenience store, a garage, a wine cellar, a trailer, some small houses," Barthello added. "It's a lot."  
"But it isn't very _big_. It's a tiny town all crammed into a small area. And searching it wasn't _hard,_ but the lighting just _sucks_ , so searching at _night_ was the real challenge."

-{End Interview}-

Dona and Barthello walked through the main streets, pointing at the different payphones. Dona counted in her head, while Barthello was discretely keeping his hands at his arms, yet putting up a finger every time they encountered a phone.  
"You get four?" Dona asked.  
Barthello put his hands behind his back where Dona could not see, then poked at each of his extended fingers. "Yes, four."  
"So now we go 'down below to the sunless mole hills where red blood sleeps.' What the _hell_ does that mean?"  
"I don't know. Maybe a basement somewhere."  
"I guess. . . ."

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 2nd to Depart: 12:06 am]  
Reina started to open the clue, but suddenly started shaking and giggling. "I'm too nervous!"  
Faris took the clue and ripped it open. She read the riddle to Reina. "Any ideas what that means?"  
"Sort of. I think we need to count some phones though. Then go to some creepy, bloody place."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Last to Depart: 12:08 am]  
Ma smiled and held the clue in ripping position. "Ready?" she asked. She ripped the clue open and read the clue to Zell.  
"Counting phones, I get that," Zell said. "Let's go."  
They headed down a flight of stairs, where they soon encountered Reina and Faris, who were busy counting phones for themselves. There was a screaming noise in the distance, but they ignored it and walked up to Reina and Faris in the middle of the empty, dirt street.  
"Two, three," Reina counted, pointing at the different phones.  
"FIVE! NINE! THREE-HUNDRED!" Zell started shouting.  
Ma hit Zell on the face with the clue. "Zelly! Don't be an ass!"  
"Gah! Soooooorry, Ma. I'm just messing around."  
"Messing around? Or messing _up_?"  
Zell looked down at his feet and put his hands behind his back like a scolded child. "Messing up?"  
"That's right. Now count phones quietly."  
"Busted," Faris whispered to Reina. Both giggled.  
"Okay, so four?" Reina whispered to Faris.  
"Aye. Now where?"  
"Beats me."

Dona and Barthello walked through the convenience store, which was completely abandoned, much like the rest of the town. This lack of civilization granted the teams access to all parts of the town, which included the employee's only section of the store. Dona wandered to the back and found a staircase leading down.  
"Barthello, come," she ordered.  
Barthello joined her in following the stairs down into a wine cellar with no lights turned on. Unable to find a switch, they walked down and searched regardless. In the tight quarters they searched the room until Dona finally noticed some text written in a glow-in-the-dark ink on the side of one of the large wine barrels. "Here it is!" she said, hitting Barthello in the arm to get his attention.  
Barthello read the clue out loud. "Now solve my riddle two; how many urinals in Dryfield's loo? Once you know, to the next place; a haunted house where only the sun dares show its face."  
"The bathroom," Dona said. "Getting better and better."  
Barthello nodded. They headed up the stairs and out of the store in search of a public bathroom. As they left the room, Dona pointed out the other four racers in the streets and tried to sneak out, but stopped sneaking when she saw Zell looking back at her.  
"Crap."

"Ma," Zell whispered. "There's Dona and Barthello coming from the store all sneaky-like!"  
"Good job, Zelly." Ma replied quietly.  
Ma and Zell put on an equally sneaky show as they separated themselves from Reina and Faris and went inside the store. They ignored the noises of a woman screaming once again and instead searched the store for a while before finally coming up on the wine cellar. The cellar was dark, which made it easy to notice the glowing words. Ma read them to Zell.  
"I've got it!" Zell said.  
"You know where we're going?" Ma asked.  
"Oh, no. But the other clue! It said something about the light. Sunless something. I'll _bet_ we can't see this with the lights on!" Zell suddenly grinned evilly.  
"Oh, Zelly, you wouldn't."  
"I don't _want_ to, but I kinda...want to. You know?"  
"I can't believe I'm saying this," Ma said, "but I think we should. Find the light switch, Zelly."  
Zell started rubbing his hands on one of the walls while Ma did the same. Zell finally found a switch and turned the lights on. Sure enough, the text was difficult to read. It was still possible, but it was not as apparent as before.  
"And now...to the bathroom!" Zell said in his best superhero voice, paired with a superhero pose.

Reina and Faris nearly collided with Zell and Ma as they exited the wine celler. Reina jumped a mile when she rounded the corner and nearly smashed into Zell.  
"Jeez!" she said. "We found you though. That the clue down there?"  
"Yeah," Zell said.  
"Zelly! Don't tell!" Ma scolded him.  
"Oh, sorry, Ma. No more freebies from me, gals," he told Reina and Faris.  
"Understood," Faris said. She and Reina slid by Ma and Zell and headed into the wine cellar.  
As Zell and Ma had anticipated, the sisters walked right by the clue and started searching the whole room for it. Both were soon scratching their heads and looking to one another.  
"Were we had?" Faris asked. "The clue actually down 'ere?"  
"I don't know," Reina said. "I don't think they'd do that to us. I also doubt Zell is a wonderful actor, but it's hard to say. They really might have held something back the whole race."

Dona and Barthello entered the bathroom and started counting the urinals. To be more specific, _Barthello_ was counting the urinals while Dona made groaning noises and pinched her nose closed.  
"Four, again," Barthello said after counting his fingers.  
"Haunted house now," Dona said. "Where is a haunted house?"  
Barthello tried to think, when they heard the sound of a woman screaming once again. "Is that haunted enough?"  
"Follow the screams," Dona said. They left the bathroom in search of the house of screams.

"Four," Zell shouted. He came outside and found Ma waiting by the wall. "It's for the best you didn't go in there. It smelled really bad."  
"It's not a woman's place, just as I'd expect you to wait if we counted toilet's in the ladies room," Ma replied. "While you were in there though, I heard those screams again. We should search for those. I know _I'd_ scream like that if I were in a haunted house."

"Yer call," Faris said to Reina. "I don't see the next riddle anywhere. What're we gonna do?"  
"I guess we have to maybe...I don't know!" Reina said. She pulled out the clue to read it again. "I mean, this is definitely 'down below.' And there's no sun, so that's good. This has to be it!"  
"We keep searchin' then." Faris started looking under a nearby card table and found a passage leading out the back and down a long, underground tunnel. "Reina! Think this be it?"  
"Yeah! Follow it!"  
The sisters started following the underground tunnel and searching the walls in the process.

Barthello and Dona stood in front of three small homes. They were all connected like apartments, but seemed to be independent units.  
"Which one?" Dona asked.  
Barthello held up his finger to his mouth to hush Dona. She obviously didn't like him hushing her, but when a scream came from the rightmost home, both pointed to it and said, "that one!"  
They entered the house and searched it. It had been ransacked and being that the house was only a single room, it was not hard to find the next clue. There was a single lightbulb hanging from a wire in the corner of the room. They looked under the light and found the third clue. As they read it, they were joined by Zell and Ma, who jogged over to join them in reading the clue.  
"Great. _Company_ ," Dona said.  
"Shhh," Ma said. "I'm trying to read."  
" _Zing_ ," Zell whispered to Barthello, who tried his best to not laugh.  
"Solve my riddle before you go," Ma read. "How many barrels in the mol-dens' center row? Once you know, go to top room, where at 21 years a boy met his doom. Where you CAN see yourself."  
"Heh, can," Zell said. "We were just _in_ the can."  
"Zelly!" Ma shouted.  
"Oh, sorry. I should avoid potty-talk." He looked at Dona and appologized to her as well. "Sorry about the-"  
"Ohh, come on!" Ma said, pulling Zell out of the room.  
"What's the _deal_?"  
"That _might_ be a hint that you just gave them," Ma informed him.  
"Nuh uh! It...oh. Dang, you're right, Ma. You're always right! How do you _do_ that?"

"This isn't right," Faris said, looking up a ladder. She climbed up it quickly and poked her head out, only to find she was outdoors, looking out of some grate. "Really not right."  
Reina and Faris started back to the wine cellar, when suddenly they noticed both other teams inside, looking at some barrels.  
"What's going on?" Reina asked.  
"Next riddle is here, too," Zell said. "Wait, you never found that riddle?"  
"No!" Reina said. She seemed almost on the verge of tears.  
"Eight," Ma whispered to Zell. She wrote the number in her handy notebook and started to leave, but her path was blocked by Dona and Barthello, who were leaving just before them. Zell scratched his head and looked at the sisters longingly.  
"Go ahead," Ma urged Zell. "You softie."  
"Look at your clue closer," Zell said. "Sunless. It doesn't mean sun."  
"Let's go," Ma said. She and Zell left just behind Dona and Barthello in search of the next part of the clue.  
Faris looked as if she'd just been punched in the stomach. "So easy, and yet...yar. . . ." She walked to the nearby light switch and turned it off. Sure enough, the text started to glow and Reina and Faris found the second riddle.

"Met his doom?" Dona repeated a portion of the riddle to Barthello. "How do _we_ know if somebody met his doom here?" She and Barthello were searching all the second-floor motel rooms, as were Zell and Ma, who were right on their heels. They finally came upon a room where a picture illustrated a man named Billy the Kid. It had a label of his life's dates: 1859-1881, though no teams seemed to even notice.  
"Probably in here," Barthello said. "Lots of pictures of young people."  
Zell and Ma came in and saw the two looking around the room. They noticed the picture, too, but chose to ignore it and snuck to the bathroom in the back.  
"You were right, Ma," Zell whispered as they found the clue scratched into the bathroom mirror.  
" _You_ were right," Ma replied. She started to quietly read the clue. "Solve my riddle, if you dare, organs of sense under bristly hair. Seen with how many silver plates in the Bronco's lair? Once you know, go from there; to a jet-black door 'neath the moon's cold glare."  
"Hurry," Zell said. "I want to win this!"  
Zell and Ma hurried out the bathroom while Dona and Barthello waited to move in themselves. Having heard the whispering, they knew it to be the room and started to read the clue over themselves.

"Eww," Reina said as she stepped through the gross bathroom to help Faris count the urinals. They got their number and headed to the screaming sounds of the haunted house.

Zell and Ma found the room in the motel called the Bronco and headed outside. They tried to sneak in before Dona and Barthello noticed, but were unable as the two were bearing down on them. They looked inside the room, which was mostly a large storage room. Shelves of random, useless objects, a washer and dryer in the corner, and in the corner was an all-important black safe. It was illuminated by the moon's light seeping in through the window.  
"We need to figure out how many silver plates there are," Ma told Zell. "Then we'll get to the safe and put in the numbers."  
"Right," Zell replied.  
The two searched the room for anything that could be interpretted as a silver plate. During their search, Dona and Barthello came in and started the search as well. All four seemed unable to decide what a silver plate was and how many there were. Finally, Zell checked the clue one last time.  
"Ma," he whispered with clue in hand. "This says nothing about a penalty for guessing."  
"So?"  
"The safe only has ten digits. We can _guess._ "  
"Okay, go ahead, Zelly. I'll keep looking. We _do_ have to move away from the safe if Dona and Barthello want to try, so get as many guesses as you can in before that."  
"Roger!" Zell moved to the safe and started trying random numbers. he knew the first three numbers were 448, but he started trying numbers, starting with 0, on a hunch that there were _no_ silver plates. He entered 4480, but the safe wouldn't open. His tugs on the safe alerted Dona and Barthello to his opening attempts.  
"They miscounted," Dona said to Barthello. "Hurry, find the plates!"  
"Yes, ma'am!" Barthello shouted. He started searching more frantically than ever. There was nothing plate-like in the room, however.  
Dona suddenly had a thought as she looked around the room. Along one of the walls were seven round mirrors. She pointed them out to Barthello. "They can't mean mirrors," she said quietly, but not quietly enough.  
As Dona and Barthello started marching toward Zell at the safe, Ma shouted out "SEVEN!" to Zell. He punched in 4487 and the safe swung open. Inside was their next clue. Zell grabbed a clue and slammed the door shut before racing over to Ma.  
" _Dammit_ ," Dona said. She took her turn at the safe as well to get a clue of her own.  
"YES!" Zell shouted. He jumped in the air beside Ma, who also got airborne for a Dincht-style high-five. Zell ripped open the clue. "Make your way to the gas station and sign up for one of three individual flights to your final world: Spira!"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now reach the gas station in Dryfield, not far from where they parked their cars at the end of the last leg. Once there, they will find a board with three flights listed. All flights leave in the morning and each flight leaves fifteen minutes apart. Since only one team can be on each flight, it means the first one there will have a fifteen minute advantage in the final race to the finish."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
"This. Is. AWESOME!" Zell said. He and Ma raced outside and down the motel stairs. Dona and Barthello were close behind them, but not close enough that they were any threat. Zell and Ma reached the gas station in plenty of time to sign a whiteboard on the wall to put them on the first flight, set to leave at 6:00 am.  
"We've GOT THIS," Zell shouted.  
"Don't gloat, Zelly," Ma scolded. "Not yet, anyway. Don't jinx us."  
"Good call, Ma. Sorry."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Dona and Barthello reached the board. Dona sighed when she read the box for the first flight. "Zell and Ma Dincht. Booya!" Barthello wrote in his and Dona's names in the box for the second flight.

-{Ma & Zell: Interview}-

In front of the gas station, Zell and Ma spoke to the camera. In the background it was possible to see Dona and Barthello, who were pulling a pair of sleeping bags from their backpacks.  
"It's hard to not get cocky, but we're psyched to be first out of here," Zell said.  
"We're a _bit_ worried about Dona and Barthello, since they know Spira rather well," Ma said. "We hope our time advantage holds out."  
"It kinda makes me regret what we did to Reina and Faris. I mean, I'd be less worried if they were the ones fifteen minutes behind us. They don't know Spira, either. Although, like, those two...man. They've managed to pull out some crazy race results. I'm kinda scared they'll make up the thirty minutes and pass us in the end. But still! We can _do this!"_  
"Booya!" Ma added.

-{End Interview}-

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in Last Place]  
Reina and Faris, having solved the final riddle, took their clue from the safe and headed to the gas station. They signed up for the third flight and pulled out their own sleeping gear. Dona and Barthello had already started to sleep and seemed irritated enough by circumstances as is. Ma was starting to doze off as well, though Zell was wide awake. He waved to Reina and Faris and joined them by the board.  
"Sucks you're in third," Zell said. "Sorry about the riddle."  
"It's okay," Reina said. "It's not your fault."  
"Riiiight. Not mine." Zell scratched his head and looked up into the sky.  
"We jus' couldn't see it with the lights on," Faris said. "Lucky yeh found out."  
"Yeah, definitely. Me 'n Ma are really glad to be in first. Kinda scared of what Dona and Barthello might pull out though. They know people and places in Spira."  
"Aren't yeh worried 'bout us?"  
"Err, yeah! You two, too! I just meant that like, uhh, since they had an advantage and uhhh-"  
"Relax, I's just jokin'," Faris said, hitting Zell lightly on the shoulder. "But still. Yeh better keep yer lead, or you'll be losin' it ter us."  
"Yeah. We've been in worse situations than this," Reina added.  
"Yeah, me too," Zell said. "Well...good luck!"  
"Aye. You, too," Faris said, offering a hand to Zell. He rubbed his hand on the side of his pants before accepting the handshake.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
As the glow of the morning was only barely starting to show, Zell and Ma grabbed all their belongings and boarded a small plane. It looked like a small puddle-jumper, only the sides were plated with steel and it had a very large jet engine on each wing. They looked out the small, port window at Dona and Barthello, who were waiting eagerly for a flight of their own. Reina and Faris were just starting to fold up their sleeping gear, but took a moment to stop and wave to Ma and Zell, who waved back.  
The plane's engines fired up, then pushed the plane into a rather fast, abrupt take-off. It shot along the ground, slowly gaining speed and altitude, then twisted to the right and started flying straight into the sky, almost like a rocket. After less than a minute, neither of the two remaining teams were able to see the space-flight-capable plane.  
"That does _not_ look fun," Dona said to Barthello.

A second and third plane were shown picking up Dona and Barthello, then Reina and Faris. Some footage of Dona screaming and gripping Barthello's arm tightly were seen, followed by footage of them while the plane had leveled out. Barthello was showing the camera the marks Dona left on his arm. He seemed to find it funny, whereas Dona found no humor in it.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"All three teams are now flying to their final world: Spira. Arriving first will be Zell and Ma. Fifteen minutes later will be Dona and Barthello, then another fifteen minutes after will be Reina and Faris. All three teams will be landing in a clearing on the small island of Besaid. There they will find their next clue at a statue on a mountain. The statue and clue box will be visible from their landing site."


	31. Episode 11, Part 2

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
The first plane landed in a strip of dirt on the small island of Besaid. Zell jumped out of the plane, then helped Ma get out. He started jumping up and down, pointing at the statue in the distance, just a short jog up a dirt hill. Zell took the clue, then waited for Ma to join him. She was huffing and wheezing when she reached the top.  
"Gosh, Ma, it wasn't _that_ hard," Zell said.  
"Of course not...when you're _your_ age," Ma replied.  
Zell smiled and ripped open the clue. "Pray at the statue for victory for as long as you'd like, then make your way to the town of Besaid."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"At this statue, many teams pray for a safe journey and for victory. Teams may stop and pray here, though that is optional. Afterwards, they must make their way a short distance to the town of Besaid. In the center of town they will find their next clue."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Let's take a moment," Ma suggested.  
"You crazy?" Zell shouted. He started to tense up, but knew it was a pointless, time-consuming argument, so he dropped to his knees to pray silently. He often opened one eye to look over at Ma and see if she was still praying, then shut his eye quickly.  
Ma was silent for a while, then finally ended with an "amen" and tapped Zell on the shoulder. "Thanks for waiting. Let's go."  
"Oh yeaaaah!"  
The two raced down a mountain trail to a small town composed of tents and huts. In the back of the town was a large temple. And for as beautiful as the island setting may have been, Zell and Ma's eyes were on a clue box sitting in the middle of a dirt circle in the middle of town. They raced over to it and Zell pulled the clue from the box.  
"Detour: Sonar or Go Far?"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. The choice: Sonar or Go Far. In Sonar, teams take a device called a search sphere and find four buried spheres with a button on them. When they find a sphere, they must simply push the button. Once teams have pressed all four buttons, a box labeled with their names on the pier will open. This box will contain their next clue. Each search sphere has a color and will only seek out buried spheres of the same color, so that one team finding all the spheres will not allow others to simply jump on the wagon, so to speak. The task is not difficult, and is basically following a metal detector, then digging a very small hole with their hands. But if teams do not notice a buried sphere, they could spend a long time backtracking.  
"In Go Far, teams are given a map of where four buttons are located. The only difficulty is that some of these numbers are located in high areas and may require intense climbing. Also, some of the foliage of the island may hide the numbers. But having a map eliminates the luck factor and relies mostly on physical ability. Like with Sonar, pushing the four buttons will unlock their clue on the pier."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Up to you, Ma," Zell said. "You know what I wanna do."  
"I'm sorry, Zelly, but I don't think I can climb fast enough," Ma said. "Can we do 'Sonar?'"  
"I guess so."  
Zell grabbed a nearby search sphere. It was just a beeping green orb that beeped louder and faster the closer the search sphere was to a buried sphere of the same color. There was also a display of several red bars that lit up in a way corresponding to the volume and frequency of the beeps.  
They started out back the way they'd come when the sphere started immediately beeping.  
"Lucky day!" Ma shouted. She and Zell started moving around to try to find the exact spot. While finding the exact spot was difficult, they definitely found where the beeping was loudest and most frequent. Zell handed Ma the sphere so that he could dig doggie-style, tossing dirt through his legs and clawing at the ground. Ma occasionally added a hand to help out. They unveiled a portion of the sphere and moved over a half-step to dig where the rest of the sphere was. Once the button was exposed, Zell pressed it.  
In a distant shot of the pier, there was a close-up of three clear boxes with clues contained inside. The three boxes sat on the pier and had four red lights along the bottom. On the box labeled "Ma and Zell," the first red light turned green.  
"One down, three to go!" Zell said happily.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Dona and Barthello's plane landed on Besaid. Barthello exited and helped Dona from her plane. Barthello took a deep breath.  
"Ahh. It's good to be back in Spira," Barthello said.  
"You're wasting time," Dona said. She led Barthello up the mountain to the statue beside their next clue. She took it out and read it to him. "Pray at the statue for victory for as long as you'd like, then make your way to the town of Besaid."  
"We should pray."  
"Oh puh-lease," Dona said. She saw he was not willing to negotiate it and sighed. "Fine. Very quickly."  
Barthello and Dona did a very quick prayer in the traditional Yevon-style, then proceeded to Besaid. Along the way, they noticed Zell and Ma following a beeping search sphere.  
"Oh not those things," Dona said of the search sphere Ma was holding.  
"Yup, it's the Detour," Zell said. "Err, one of them."  
"Where's the box?" Dona asked.  
"About six islands that way," Zell pointed way in the distance behind them." When he got strange glares from both Dona and Barthello, he just bonked the side of his own head lightly with the palm of his hand. "Like I'd tell you! Final leg, guys!"  
"It's there," Barthello said, pointing to the town of Besaid; specifically to the clue box in the center of town.  
"Then go get it, you big dope!" Zell joked.  
Dona, having had enough conversation for one day, left to get the clue in Besaid. Barthello, as always, was in tow. They reached the clue box and Dona pulled out their clue. "Detour: Sonar or Go Far?"  
"Climbing has never been our strength," Barthello said. "I think Sonar."  
"I suppose so," Dona said. She grabbed a blue search sphere and turned it on. She and Barthello started to walk around and look for buried spheres. It didn't take long before it started beeping a lot. "There," Dona said, pointing at the ground.  
Barthello got on his knees and started scraping at the ground. He unveiled the blue sphere shortly after and pushed the button. "Done."  
"I hope it stays this easy," Dona said. She and Barthello started to walk out of the town, all the while watching the search sphere.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 1 Found]  
Zell walked behind Ma, who was using the search sphere. He would sometimes start to walk faster than her, then turn around and walk back to her.  
"You're making me nervous, Zelly," Ma said.  
"But we're going too _slow_ ," Zell said. "Final leg! Gotta find these things a-sap!"  
Ma started to pick up the pace as she made her way across a section of bridges. Zell started to jump up and down angrily while looking over her shoulder.  
"Beep already!" Zell said.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, 1 Found]  
Dona and Barthello walked out of town slowly. Dona watched the search sphere carefully and Barthello prepared himself for some digging. Just as they started up the hill, where a group of the local blitzball team was practicing, the search sphere started to beep. Dona started moving around, chasing the more frequent beeps and finally pointed to a section of ground.  
"There," she ordered Barthello to dig.  
He scrapped frantically at the ground and unveiled their next sphere. He pushed the button and lit up their second sphere.  
Dona continued on in search of her next sphere while Barthello dusted his hands off.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in Last Place]  
Reina and Faris's plane landed at Besaid. The girls jumped from the plane and raced up the hill to the statue. Reina pulled out the clue and read it to Faris.  
"Should we pray?" she asked after reading it.  
"No time," Faris said. "Got ground ter make up. Maybe later."  
The girls saw Zell and Ma in the distance searching for something. Dona and Barthello were approaching them, but seemed all too fixated on a sphere in Dona's hand to even notice them.  
Reina and Faris decided not to waste time with them as they headed off to Besaid to find the next clue box. Faris reached the box and pulled out their clue.  
"Detour: Sonar or Go Far," Faris read.  
"We're too behind to play with the neat sphere," Reina said.  
"Aye. We be doin' Go Far." Faris took the map out and pulled it open. It was a map of Besaid Island with four red dots on it. The dots were all across the island and none of them were too close to each other. "Hope yeh got yer runnin' shoes on, sis."  
"I'm ready!"  
They raced out of the town in the direction of the first dot, which was right back by the first clue box at the statue.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 1 Found]  
"Finally!" Zell shouted as Ma's search sphere started to beep. She walked around for a short while, trying to find the signal, then stopped and let Zell dig in what they believed to be the correct location. He uncovered his sphere and pushed the button on it just as Dona and Barthello reached their same location to search for a sphere.  
Dona's sphere started beeping as well when she was only a few steps from Zell's sphere.  
"No way," Zell said. "So all our spheres are close together?"  
"Seems that way," Dona said.  
"Well we've gotta get the next one before you _follow_ us, then!" Zell shouted. "Come on, Ma!"  
"Okay!" Ma replied. She and Zell raced ahead quickly to try to find the next location.  
Dona rolled her eyes. "Like we _need_ to follow anybody. Now find the sphere, Barthello."  
"Yes," Barthello said. He searched around with Dona and they soon found their third sphere. Barthello pressed the button. Dona readied the search sphere again and they started to search for their final sphere.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 0 Found]  
Reina and Faris searched the strange statue for a hidden button. It didn't take long before Faris found it on the back.  
"Aha!" she said. She slammed her finger on the button.

There was a brief cutaway back to the pier, where Reina and Faris's box gained its first green light. Ma and Zell's had two, while Dona and Barthello were at three.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 1 Found]  
"Next one isn't far," Faris said. "Don' worry, sis. Maps be my thing!"  
"Good, because it sure isn't mine," Reina said. "Where to?"  
"Jus' followin' the path."  
Reina and Faris continued down a path where there was a strange structure built into the side of a path. More importantly was the broken pillar standing about seven-feet tall, which, according to Faris, was the location of their next button. She and Reina started looking all around the column, but neither could find it. They started checking the floor and even the side of the canyon wall nearby. It didn't take too much searching for Faris to figure out where it was.  
"Stand on me shoulders," Faris told Reina. She stood by the pillar and gripped the side of it firmly.  
"Ohh, on top," Reina replied. She jumped up on Faris and after some struggling, finally managed to climb up her and reach the top of the pillar. Sure enough, there was a button on the top of the pillar. Reina pressed it, then jumped off Faris.  
"All the way ter the beach, now," Faris said. She and Reina started to jog along the long path to the beach.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 2 Found]  
"These are hard to find," Zell said. He and Ma headed into a clearing that overlooked a small river. The area was a lot greener than most others and overlooked a series of palm trees.  
"It's here, Zelly!" Ma said as the search sphere started beeping.  
"Where!?"  
"I don't know, it isn't too strong yet," she replied. She walked around the area, chasing a strange signal. It seemed very picky in this area and seemed to go from moderately high beeping levels right back down to hardly any beeping.  
"Having fun?" Dona asked as she and Barthello entered the same area.  
"Dangit, how'd _you_ get here so fast?" Zell asked. " _Following_ us, aren't you?"  
" _Hardly_."  
"Well fine! We're gonna beat you though! Maybe it's...here!" Zell dove on the ground and started digging a small hole. He didn't uncover anything. "Or here!" he said, diving to a new location around where Ma's sphere beeped.  
"Why would _you_ beat _us_?" Dona asked. She started pointing to random places on the ground where Barthello was to dig.  
"Because we're the good guys!" Zell said, putting his muddy fists on his hips like a superhero.  
"And we are?" Dona glared at him, waiting for the answer.  
Barthello looked up at Zell nervously, shaking his head at him subtly, trying to make Zell not say the answer.  
" _EVIL!_ "  
" _Figures. You_ think that because somebody is not so optimistic and not so annoyingly cheerful that they _must_ be evil, right? Never mind intentions. Never mind how I tried to save this world once before. I'm _mean_ and therefore _evil,_ right? _RIGHT?_ "  
Ma leaned in close to Zell. "Gulp is right," she whispered. "Just find the sphere, Zelly. This is our race and we don't need to worry about our opponents. Win or lose, we're going to do our best."  
"You're right, Ma," Zell said. He started to search the ground again, but found his ear caught in a death-grip, courtesy of Ma.  
"Forgetting something?" she asked.  
"OUCH! Fine, Ma. I know, I know." Zell rubbed his ear immediately after Ma released it. He turned to Dona and lowered his head. "I'm sorry about saying what I did."  
"Like I care," Dona said, folding her arms across her chest.  
Zell was going to respond negatively until he saw Barthello on the ground giving him a thumbs-up. He smiled and hopped back to the ground to search.  
Not long later, Zell and Barthello both screamed out happily. "Found it!" They looked at each other, then back down at their spheres to push the buttons.  
"One left!" Zell said. "Let's hurry, Ma! We've gotta beat these two!"  
"Heh, good luck with _that_ ," Dona said. "That was _our_ last one."  
"No _way!_ " Zell shouted, extremely surprised.  
"Come, Barthello."  
Dona and Barthello left without another word as they headed down to the beach. They saw Reina and Faris slowly climbing up the side of a cliff to reach their next button.  
"We should hurry," Barthello told Dona. "We don't know how close they are."  
"Fine." Dona started to actually jog toward the beach with Barthello. Behind the beach was a pier leading out to a boat that was waiting at the dock. It was a large, transport ferry with the name S.S. Liki written on the side. Barthello admired the ship as they ran by to find the three clear boxes at the end of the pier. Their box, located between the other two, had all four lights shining a bright, cheerful green. Barthello lifted the box lid and opened it wide enough to reach his clue inside. He dropped the lid back on the box and ripped open the clue.  
"Using the two tickets inside, take the ferry to your final destination...!" Barthello was so shocked by what he read that his eyes were actually visible. "KILIKA ISLAND!"  
"You're KIDDING!" Dona shouted.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now board the S.S. Liki, which is bound for Kilika Island. This island is the final destination of the race, though it is still far from over. Although there is technically only one S.S. Liki, there are several ferries that look the same and carry the same name that will leave the dock in Besaid. The ferries cycle so that each boat leaves every ten minutes."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
"Our last leg is...at home," Barthello said. He seemed almost overcome with emotion. "I think we can do it, Dona! We can do it!"  
"Not if you don't get your dumb _face_ on the boat," Dona said.  
"Oh! Sorry!" He raced up the plank to the boat and handed the two tickets to the ticket-taker. They boarded the ship and climbed a small flight of stairs to the second floor, which was covered by a a colorful canopy. They leaned over the side that watched the dock and prayed that neither of the other two teams would board before the boat left.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 3 Found]  
"Where could it be!?" Zell shouted. He jumped up and down a lot, then started punching the air.  
"Well, all our spheres have been close to Dona and Barthello's," Ma said. "I never saw them go farther than us-"  
"So we just go back and find _their_ sphere!" Zell ran to Ma and hugged her, picking her up off the ground even. "You're so dang smart, Ma!"  
After putting Ma down, he started racing off and boisterously waving his arm for Ma to follow him.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 2 Found]  
Reina and Faris were searching around in a raised area that overlooked the beach. There was an old, demolished structure in the middle with foliage growing all around. The dot on the map was vague as to its exact location and the girls were searching everywhere they could.  
"Anything?" Reina asked.  
"Yeh'd know if I found it, sis," Faris replied.  
"Yeah, I guess so."  
"Don' worry, sis. The last dot be on the beach. Should be a lot easier than this one."  
"That's good. Just gotta find this one first."

Dona and Barthello were not showing any signs of nervousness except for Dona's foot, which was shaking like crazy. It stopped shaking instantly when the ticket-taker took in the plank to the dock and the boat started slowly pulling away from the dock.  
"We're in first," Dona said with extreme disbelief. "And going to Kilika. Makes me want to stop by our house to get a change of clothes before going on."  
"Dona! We can't!" Barthello argued.  
" _Relax._ I'm _joking,_ Barthello."  
"Oh. O-o-of course you were, Dona. I knew. I was just joking back!"  
"You're so cute sometimes," Dona said with a smile. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when we hit Kilika."  
"Yes, Dona," Barthello said.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 3 Found]  
"There it is!" Zell shouted, pointing at Dona and Barthello's exposed sphere in the ground. "Look around there!"  
Ma was taking deep breaths and put her hands on her knees. She handed Zell the sphere. "I can't, Zelly. You do it while I catch my breath," she said between breaths.  
Zell took the search sphere and started running around like an idiot. His running worked, however, as the sphere started beeping louder and more frequent. He followed the beeps until they were at full volume and frequency, then started digging. After two small holes, he found the final sphere and pushed the button. "Bingo!"  
"Let me guess," Ma said. "Now we have to run again, don't we?"  
"You're finally starting to get it!" Zell joked. He started running back down to the beach with Ma far behind him. He frequently stopped and waited for her to join him, but she eventually had to just walk. Zell seemed upset, but still told Ma it was okay.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, 2 Found]  
"Found you!" Reina said, pushing the third button that was underneath a broken sundial.  
"Good job, sis!" Faris shouted. "Hurry, ter the beach!"  
Faris raced for the cliff and jumped down to the beach. She opened her arms to catch Reina, but Reina jumped down in a different spot by herself. Faris shrugged, then raced to the other side of the beach to search for the final button.  
Reina followed Faris, but stopped to watch Zell and Ma walk to the pier. She waved to them and they waved back.

Zell and Ma walked along the pier and found their box. Zell opened it and removed his clue and tickets. He ripped it open and read it to Ma. "Using the two tickets inside, take the ferry to your final destination: Kilika Island."  
"Sounds fun," Ma said. "But I kinda thought that about this island, too, and this island just left me pooped!"  
"I hear ya," Zell said.  
"Liar."  
"Err, well, sorry, Ma. But at least we get a rest. This boat will take awhile to get there."  
"That's true," Ma replied.  
They boarded the boat and handed the ticket-taker the tickets.  
"How long till we leave?" Zell asked him.  
"About two minutes," he replied.  
"Just in time! Sweet!"  
"Sweet as they may be, I kinda hope Reina and Faris miss the boat."  
"Ditto. We might actually have a chance to win against _Dona,_ but I dunno about Reina and Faris. They're a couple of tough girls. Probably the two toughest in the race!"  
"A-hem."  
"Ohhh, I mean, besides you, Ma! You, Faris, and Reina! Top 3!"  
"Still lying," Ma said with a smile. "I raised you to be such a nice boy." She paired this statement with an attack on his hair; rubbing the top of his head to mess up his spikey hair.  
"Oh come on, Ma! Now I have to fix my hair-horn!"  
While the Dinchts were messing around, the fourth light on Reina and Faris's box turned green. The boat's engine started up and the ticket-taker pulled in the plank from the dock. The girls came running down the pier, screaming for the boat to wait. Faris reached the end of the pier and took the clue from their box while Reina flagged down the boat and begged for them to wait.  
Both girls looked up eagerly at the ticket-taker and put on their best puppy-dog-eyes faces. The ticket-taker frowned, then shook his head. "Sorry, ladies."

Reina and Faris addressed the camera while the boat drifted away from the dock. Their voices continued through a montage of scenes showing them waiting for another boat, boarding it, and setting sail.  
"Sucks we be in third still," Faris said. "Got so close ter bein' right back in it, but nay."  
"At the very least, we're getting closer," Reina said. "We _were_ thirty minutes from the front before, now we're only twenty."  
"An' the front just be Dona an' Barthello, so the _real_ front be Zell 'n Ma, 'n we're only _ten_ minutes from them."  
"We're just kinda joking," Reina told the camera. "Staying in high spirits. We're actually very afraid that Dona and Barthello will take it before our ship even arrives. We're hoping for just _one_ more thing to slow them down and give us a chance to catch up."  
"Otherwise, we lost the race b'fore we even landed in Spira."

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Zell sat on the side of the boat, despite the nervous ticket-taker constantly asking him to be careful and suggesting he move. His affirmations of "It's okay, I'm a SeeD" seemed ineffective at calming the nervous man.  
"Zelly," Ma said from behind him. She stood up out of her lounge chair on the deck of the large boat. "Zelly. I don't feel...good."  
Zell looked back at Ma just in time to see her collapse on the deck. "MA!" Zell shouted, jumping from the ledge of the boat and racing over to her. "SOMEBODY GET HELP!"


	32. Episode 11, Part 3

_[Author's Note: Just a quick note that this final part uses some green and red colored text at one part to indicate correct versus incorrect answers. This site is all black text, so that part might look a tad funny, but shouldn't change the viewing experience TOO much. If you'd prefer the colored text though, then check out my website: . Thanks, and enjoy the final part!]_

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Zell held Ma aboard the S.S. Liki, or at least a boat resembling it. She was on the ground and Zell was holding her head up slightly as a few men on the boat came to aid her. One of the men handed Zell a rolled-up towel, which he put under Ma's head. Shortly after, an on-board medical crew raced over to Ma and pushed Zell out of the way. He was struggling to see what they were doing to her, so he just walked away and plopped down on the deck in a sitting position. His legs were sprawled out in front of him and fists were pointed down, resting on the ground. Occasionally, he lifted one up and punched the ground.  
"It's all my fault," he said to himself. "I pushed her too hard! Stupid stupid stupid!" he punched the ground with each stupid.  
A man from the medical crew approached Zell. "Son, I need to speak with you about your mother."  
"Will she be okay?" Zell asked. He jumped to his feet and grabbed his shoulder. "WILL SHE!?"  
"She'll be fine," he said, desperately trying to pull Zell and his death-grip away. He eventually succeeded. "She's mostly just exhausted. A bit of dehydration. Some blood pressure issues. No permanent problems for now, but she really needs to rest."  
"Okay, doctor. Thanks."  
"I'm not a doctor, but you're welcome." He and the rest of the crew helped Ma to a deck chair under an umbrella and left her with a water bottle. Zell slowly walked over to her. He looked as if he were five-years old and had just gotten caught coloring on the walls.  
"Don't look like that, Zelly," Ma said. "It's not your fault."  
"It is though! We could've just walked the whole time! We could have taken the third boat like Reina and Faris! And if we didn't win, I mean, that'd be fine! I sure as heck want a million gil, but I want my mom more!"  
A tear escaped Ma's eye. And then she reached out and punched Zell in his thigh. "Oh Zelly, you big jerk! They said I'm dehydrated, and you're making me cry!"  
"Oh come on, Ma. I'm bein' serious! Should we just withdraw from the race?"  
"Not a chance, Zelly," Ma said. "Dinchts are winners, and that's just what we'll do!"  
"Okay, Ma."  
"Don't gimme that 'okay, ma' stuff! Reply like you mean it! Dinchts don't settle for second! I'm not here because you pushed me too hard! I'm here because you didn't push me hard enough sooner! Now let's _do this!"_  
"ALL RIGHT!" Zell cheered. "Let's DO THIS!"

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
Dona and Barthello's boat maneuvered around another boat, the S.S. Winno, which was anchored about ten meters away from the docks in the festive city of Kilika. The city was entirely over water with stilted huts connecting to the bridges below by wooden staircases. There was a path straight up the middle of the town, between the two main bridges. A man in a small gondola used this passage to transport people across the busy town. The town stretched to the north, but never east or west; just a thin strip full of half-dressed people.  
The boat docked at the pier on the south-end and the two racers exited the boat. The next clue box was waiting for them right where they disembarked.  
Dona ripped open the clue. "Make your way to the Kilika Temple on the north-side of the island. And make sure you know: 'Craven Monkey' is even, 'Carved Monkey' is odd."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now make their way to the temple on the far-side of the island. They will travel through the town, then through a small forest. They will finally reach the temple steps where temple guards will ask them a question with a numeric answer. They must answer this by using the password "Craven Monkey" if the answer is even, or "Carved Monkey" if the answer is odd. If they answer incorrectly, they must wait for three minutes before trying another question. Once through, they will find their next clue at the temple's entrance."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
"I hate that monkey stuff," Dona said. She and Barthello walked the crowded bridges of Kilika just as far as the gondola. Without even speaking to the gondolier, she and Barthello stepped in.  
"Dona! Welcome home!" he said.  
"Just take us to the end and _hurry,_ " Dona told him.  
"Same ol' Dona." The man pushed them in the gondola all the way through the town.  
They finally reached the end where Dona and Barthello stepped out and walked through a large, open gate leading to the forest. The forest had many different paths to travel through, but Dona and Barthello walked through with no problem. They knew the forest well and had no trouble finding the path all the way through. They crossed a stone bridge in the middle of the forest and eventually broke off to the right. Their path went around the forested area on a path overlooking the ocean. After this, they were faced with a large set of steps leading up to the temple. An armored man approached them with a rifle, complete with an attached bayonet.  
"If you wanna get by, answer me this!" the man shouted at the pair. "This is the number of delays used in the race. What is the password?"  
Barthello held out a fist and started counting them on his fingers as he spoke them. "Okay, it started with the Xing on Leg 2. Then-"  
"It's fifty-fifty," Dona said. "I'm just guessing. 'Carved Monkey.'"  
"...correct! You may pass."  
" _Much_ better than thinking," Dona said. "Come, Barthello."  
"Yes, Dona," Barthello said. "And...very _good,_ Dona!"

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Ma and Zell disembarked at Kilika with Zell being extra careful with Ma. He was acting as if she was 100-years old and could break a hip and fall over at any minute. Ma swatted at his head.  
"Oh, knock it off, Zelly," she said. "I'm fine. Now let's win this!"  
"Okay, Ma," Zell said. He took the clue from the box and read it to Ma.  
"That monkey business sounds weird." Ma pointed to the forest in the distance. "I think that's where we're going."  
"Nowhere else to go," Zell said. He walked to the nearby gondolier. "Hey, can you take us to the other end?"  
"Sure," he said. "I mean, no."  
"Pardon?" Ma asked, joining Zell by the gondolier.  
"See, Dona and Barthello told me not to let anybody else on," he explained. "They live here and like to boss a few of us around. But well, I _am_ pursuaded by gil."  
"You got it, my man," Zell said, tossing the man a handful of gil. "We've been saving for just this reason!"  
"Hop aboard!"  
Zell and Ma boarded the gondola and he pushed them through the city. Zell asked if gil would make him go faster. After testing his theory by tossing a few gil on the ground, the gondola started going even faster.  
"Nice!" Zell said. "See, Ma? We can do this without you even needing to run!"  
"Oh, Zelly. I'm still going to run," she explained. "It's _only_ one more leg."

Dona and Barthello reached the top of the steps and walked through the temple grounds. The whole area was stone and had an abundance of columns, pillars, and arches. In the center was a glowing, fiery, circular-section of floor. On top of this was a clue box. Dona reached in and pulled out the clue.  
"Make your way through the cloister of trials within the temple to the chamber of the fayth," she read.

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now complete one of the three models of the cloister of trials here on Kilika Island. There is only one true temple, but we have built models so that each team can complete their own without the influence of other teams. However, all cloisters eventually intersect in their final area: the chamber of the fayth. Once here, teams will find their final clue box of the race."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
Dona and Barthello were both trying their best to hide their extreme exitement of a challenge that would be potentially easy for them, but difficult for others. They followed a staircase leading down into the main temple area. Inside there were several people around the circular room, singing the Hymn of the Fayth. Ahead was a staircase leading up to a door marked with a red-and-yellow race flag. They went up the stairs and inside the marked room, where there were three circular elevators. They were not normal elevators as they were only circular platforms with strange markings on them.  
Dona and Barthello, having used these before, knew exactly how they worked and stepped on the middle elevator. The symbol on their elevator turned a bright-red color, then started slowly moving down.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Zell and Ma stepped out of the gondola and Zell tossed him a couple more gil.  
"Keep an eye out for us, okay?" Zell said. "We need all the transportation help we can get...just in case, you know?"  
Ma and Zell raced out the city gate and started searching for a route through the forest. They continued to pick a path, then Zell ran far ahead to see if it dead-ended and returned to Ma if it did so she wouldn't have to run as far when they turned around. The strategy worked fine for keeping Ma from too much physical exertion, but for the first time in a long time, Zell was starting to feel exhausted.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
Dona and Barthello headed through the dark corridors of the cloister of trials...replica. Neither seemed to hesitate too much when solving the large series of puzzles. There were sockets on the walls that held glowing, orange, "Kilika" sphere. In front of them was a stone archway that was likely a doorway, but it was filled by a solid wood-like substance with an amazing pattern carved into it. There was an empty socket beside the archway.  
Dona moved quickly and grabbed one of the spheres from the wall and put it into the socket beside the archway. A bright line led to the doorway and the wood caught on fire and quickly burned away. All that was left was a grid frame that burned in the archway, preventing access. But Dona knew how to get through this and she removed the sphere from the socket. With the Kilika sphere no longer fueling the fire, the rest of the barrier fell away. Dona kept the orb with her and headed into the next room with Barthello.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in Last Place]  
Reina and Faris disembarked and grabbed the last clue in the box on the dock.  
Reina read the clue to Faris. "Make your way to the Kilika Temple on the north-side of the island. And make sure you know: 'Craven Monkey' is even, 'Carved Monkey' is odd."  
"Come back time," Faris said.  
"Come back time," Reina repeated.  
The girls raced down the crowded dock as fast as they could. Seeing how crowded the docks were, they found a staircase to a second level and started racing along that. When the second level reached an abrupt stop, they leapt off to the first level and ran the rest of the way to the gate.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Ma and Zell reached the soldier with the monkey question at the steps to the temple. He told them both to halt, which both seemed to appreciate since they were both exhausted.  
"If you wanna get by, answer me this!" the man shouted at them. "This is the number of delays used in the race. What is the password?"  
"Ohh, the monkey thing!" Zell shouted. He turned to Ma. "Check the clue. See which answer is which."  
"No clues!" the man shouted. "Pull out a clue and it's an instant fail!"  
"Don't worry, Zelly," Ma said. "I remember." She started to sing a really obscure tune. "Craaaven is eeeeven; Carrrrrrrved is odd; yeah!"  
"You're so weird, Ma," Zell said. "Okay, so how many delays were used?"  
"Well, there were two X-ings, since we were X-ing-ed and so were Fran and Balthier. There were two U-Turns because I remember noticing how scary those were since two tough teams dropped because of them. And then there was the yield we used on Freya and Fratley. So...five. Odd."  
"Carrrrrrrved Monkey!" Zell shouted at the man.  
"Correct," the man said. "You may pass."  
Ma and Zell started to climb the steps to the temple. Neither climbed incredibly quickly, though both tried their best to advance quickly.

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
Dona and Barthello continued to rock the cloister of trials. Dona took a green glyph sphere from the previous room into a final room with a gorge full of fire. Across this fiery pit was a very decorated door that was the final destination. As Barthello removed an orange, Kilika sphere from the wall, Dona inserted the glyph sphere in its place. A hidden wall moved and revealed a hidden room where they saw the Kilika sphere fueling the fire. Dona took the sphere and the fires instantly disappeared.  
They made their way down the stairs into the previously fiery pit, then across to a staircase leading to the other side. They walked up to the highly decorated door, which like before, was blocked, with a socket beside it for a sphere. Dona inserted her Kilika sphere and the door went up in flames. After a second of burning, she removed the sphere and let it fall to the ground as the fire estinguished itself and allowed them entry to the final room before the chamber of the fayth.  
"Just like old times," Dona said.  
Barthello nodded and headed inside with Dona. There were three entrances to this room, as this was the location that all three replica cloisters intersected. Then, in the distance, was a final door leading to the chamber of the fayth. In the center of the room was the final clue box for the race.  
Dona took the clue from the box. "Roadblock: Who knows thy enemy?"  
"I...I don't know," Barthello said.  
"You do it. You pay more attention to this race."  
"...Yes. I won't let you down."

[Announcer Gippal]  
"A roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this roadblock, that team member must enter the chamber of the fayth where three boards have been set up. Each board is tied to a specific team from the top six, though not from the top three. These teams are Biran and Yenke, Fran and Balthier, and Zone and Watts. Each board has five facts about each team, but the facts are a complete mess. There are several scattered words on each wall that teams must find and put into the correct locations in order to form six true statements regarding each team."

Barthello stepped inside the chamber of the fayth and saw the large, transparent area on the floor where summoners would stand and pray to obtain an aeon. Barthello respectfully bowed when he entered this area. He could tell when he stepped inside that this was the true chamber of the fayth and not just a replica. On each of the walls, not counting the one with the door he had just passed through, were six statements about each team. Biran and Yenke were on the left, Fran and Balthier ahead, and Zone and Watts to the right. In the center of the room was a huge collection of spheres. It was a meter tall and was a circular bin with a diameter of two meters, and was full to the brim with spheres. Each of the spheres projected a word or term above it. Terms like "yielded" and "Cecil and Rosa."  
Barthello thought about his choices and told the camera about his thoughts. "The Ronso were the most recent, so we would have the most knowledge about them, but Fran and Balthier were talkative, although not to me. Reina and Faris would greatly profit from Zone and Watts, so if I took a team somebody _else_ would profit from, it would delay them greatly. But I...I don't know if I can answer them that well." He thought for a moment, then finally, "I'll do Biran and Yenke."  
He approached the board and looked at the responses he had to fill in.

Biran & Yenke  
Biran & Yenke used an Xing on _ in Leg _  
Biran & Yenke were given plane tickets by _ in Leg _  
Biran & Yenke barely beat _ to the first _  
Biran & Yenke teased _ constantly about being a _ _  
Yenke copied _'s slide puzzle in the _ on Leg _

"This will be hard," Barthello said. He headed to the large bin of spheres and pulled one out. It had the word "Celes" on it. He looked back at the wall, then after reading through all the blanks, he tossed it back into the bin.

[Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place]  
Ma and Zell reached the clue box outside Kilika temple and read through the clue.  
"Make your way through the cloister of trials within the temple to the chamber of the fayth,"Ma read.  
"Sounds complicated," Zell said.  
He and Ma entered the temple and headed to the door up the stairs. Inside, they picked the far right elevator and stood on it. It slowly lowered them into the cloister.

[Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in Last Place]  
Reina and Faris approached the man with the monkey question.  
He asked them the same question as the other two. "If you wanna get by, answer me this! This is the number of delays used in the race. What is the password?"  
"Carved!" Reina said quickly.  
"Correct! You may pass."  
"Very _good,_ sis!" Faris said as they walked up the stairs quickly. "How'd yeh know so fast?"  
"There were six delays in the race and all of them were used except one because we all used them too soon. So...odd!"  
"Keep that memory up, an' we may still have a chance at this booty."  
"I will!" Reina said happily. "...Though, I also kiiiinda heard Ma and Zell answer that question."  
"Har! I'll still take it!"  
Reina and Faris reached the top and obtained their next clue from the temple grounds, then made their way inside the cloister of trials.

Barthello started filling in a couple spots on his board, but not many. On the last line, he put a "10" sphere into the final socket. The previously white sphere turned green to confirm the correct response.  
"I wish I had seen that task," Barthello said to himself. "I wish I had seen most of this! Oh Dona, I'm sorry. . . ."

"This is hard!" Zell said when Ma pulled the Kilika sphere from the first door's socket, making the flames fade away.  
"But fun!" Ma said. She raced to the next room with Zell and started trying to figure out the next room, which introduced the glyph sphere, which sat in a pedestal to the left. The right wall held a Kilika sphere, while the left wall and the front wall had empty sockets.  
Ma set her Kilika sphere in the far wall's socket and started to investigate the new glyph sphere, when suddenly Zell pointed at the wall where Ma had just left a sphere. A strange glyph had burned itself into the wall behind Ma.  
"Check it out!" Zell said. He took the sphere out, then put it back, then took it out again. The glyph stayed there. "Either you did something right, or some of our victory money is going to be spent repairing this place." He started dusting the glyph with his hand to see how permanent the burn marks were, when the glyph suddenly turned green and that section of wall rose into the ceiling, revealing the next room.  
"Good job, Zelly!" Ma exclaimed.  
"Piece of cake."

Barthello's wall still remained generally empty. He had filled in the numbers to each of the blanks after "Leg" in each line that had one. He told the camera that they were the easiest because of trial and error. He stuck the word "Ma" into the slot in the last line for who Yenke copied. The word Ma turned red, so he removed it and tossed it back into the bin.  
"I'm starting to wish we'd joined in a few more of the group conversations," he mumbled to himself.

Dona stood in the middle of the room, tapping her foot. At one point, she started stretching her leg as it started cramping from all the tapping. She saw one of the three doors leading to the replica cloisters go up in flames and turn to a burning wireframe. Through the wires, she saw Zell and sighed. "They're here."  
The door completely disappeared and Zell and Ma entered the room. They walked around Dona and grabbed the clue from the box.  
"We caught up!" Zell whispered to Ma, though it was really loud for a whisper.  
Ma took the clue from the box. "Roadblock: Who knows thy enemy?"  
"You do, Ma!"  
"Okay. Wish me luck!"  
"Good luck, Ma!" Zell shouted.  
Ma walked into the room with the puzzle and left Zell to sit in a corner of the room and glare at Dona, while she glared back at him. Inside the chamber of the fayth, she looked over the large puzzle and saw her remaining two boards. Fran and Balthier or Zone and Watts. She read through both boards and finally walked to the Fran and Balthier board.  
"I think I know the most answers here," she said.

Fran & Balthier  
Fran & Balthier U-Turned _ in Leg _  
Fran & Balthier were crossed by _ in Leg _  
_ and _ founded the _ Alliance against Fran & Balthier  
Fran & Balthier and _ are the only two teams to never place lower than _ place  
Fran & Balthier found the first of the _ at _ Hill in Leg _

"Okay, let's see," Ma said to herself. "The alliance was the Anti-Pretty-Boy Alliance. That was an amusing name. It was founded by Celes and Garnet's teams. And the hill was Sunrise or Sunset or something. It was the 7 Wonders task. Aside from that though...hmm."

"Sure be hot in 'ere," Faris said. She and Reina were in the fire room, trying to figure out how to power down the fire. Reina was excited when she removed a Kilika sphere from the right-most wall, but it didn't work. She and Faris shifted around a lot of the spheres until Faris finally inserted the glyph sphere into the wall, allowing access to the hidden room with a Kilika sphere.  
"Tricky!" Reina said. She grabbed the sphere from the wall and finished the remainder of the cloister with Faris.  
The two girls entered the room with Dona and Zell. Zell waved to them and Reina waved back.  
Faris took the clue and read it. "Roadblock: Who knows thy enemy?"  
"Both of us?" Reina replied. "Want me to do it?"  
Faris took a moment to think. "Aye. Yeh paid attention ter the other teams more."  
"Okay!" Reina headed inside and was really excited to see that the only board left was Zone and Watts. "We're still in this!" she said to herself. She looked over the board she needed to fill in.

Zone & Watts  
Zone & Watts were U-Turned by _ in Leg _  
Zone & Watts and _ were the only ones to pick the _ Detour in Leg _  
Zone & Watts and _ were the only teams to fail a portion of the _ parade/gun show in Leg _  
Zone & Watts and _ are the only two teams to never place lower than _ place  
Zone gave _ to _ to help with Freya's wound in Leg _

Barthello filled in the "Reno and Rude" blank on the plane ticket statement. "I remember that! We were so angry!" He went back to the bin to grab more random spheres and meanwhile checked on his competition.  
Ma was picking up steam and had filled in quite a few answers. She filled in the information about Fran and Balthier U-Turning Reno and Rude, plus all the blanks regarding the Anti-Pretty-Boy Alliance.  
Reina was quickly filling in all the leg numbers, just like Barthello had done, but was finding herself surprisingly stuck. "All these happened before we got to know them," Reina said to herself, sadly. "We talked about some of this, but not much. We mostly talked about puppies! ...Well _I_ mostly talked about puppies."

Faris sat beside Zell and waited with him.  
"I'm surprised yeh ain't pacin'," Faris said. "Yeh always pace."  
"I'm so stressed I can barely move!" Zell replied.  
"I hear ya. This be intense. Savin' the world were probably tougher, but knowin' I be against those who did the same makes me nervous that I won't be gettin' me booty."  
"You know what," Zell said, talking a lot quieter. "I really hope one of us wins. And if it comes down to the two of us, I apologize in advance for anything I may do to you." He offered Faris a handshake.  
"Aye. Likewise of me," she replied, shaking his hand. "May the best team win."  
"We will," Dona said. "You two _do_ realize this room echoes?"  
"Gyar. . . ."

All three boards were getting filled quickly as the bin of spheres started to shrink. There were still several spheres that would never be used, but several of them were discarded by the three teams, knowing they would never be used. These spheres included "Sin," "X-Zone," "Apple Pie," and "Abraham Lincoln," among countless others. The boards around the room were shown as per their completion.

[Barthello]

Biran & Yenke  
Biran & Yenke used an Xing on Ma & Zell in Leg 2  
Biran & Yenke were given plane tickets by Reno & Rude in Leg 3  
Biran & Yenke barely beat Barret & Dyne to the first Pit Stop  
Biran & Yenke teased everybody constantly about being a hornless goatling  
Yenke copied Reina's slide puzzle in the Roadblock on Leg 10

[Ma]

Fran & Balthier  
Fran & Balthier U-Turned _ in Leg 5  
Fran & Balthier were crossed by _ in Leg 9  
Celes & Cid and Brahne & Garnet founded the Anti-Pretty-Boy Alliance against Fran & Balthier  
Fran & Balthier and Reina & Faris are the only two teams to never place lower than sixth place  
Fran & Balthier found the first of the 7 Wonders at Sunset Hill in Leg 6

[Reina]

Zone & Watts  
Zone & Watts were U-Turned by Dona & Barthello in Leg 8  
Zone & Watts and Brahne & Garnet were the only ones to pick the Find Exit Detour in Leg 3  
Zone & Watts and Barret & Dyne were the only teams to fail a portion of the Gold Saucer parade/gun show in Leg 1  
Zone & Watts and _ are the only two teams to never place lower than _ place  
Zone gave disinfectant to Sir Fratley to help with Freya's wound in Leg 3

Reina looked over her chart while she contemplated the answer to the third statment. She had her arms full of locations she remembered being early in the race, but was unable to figure out exactly which one it was. She plugged in "Shin-Ra," which turned red. As did "Costa Del Sol" and "Nibelheim." She finally plugged in "Junon" and the result turned green.  
"Yes!" she cheered.

Meanwhile, Barthello was staring at his board and wondering what could possibly be wrong.  
"It's true though," he said to himself. He saw the keyword in the bin and smiled happily. The word was familiar to him. "Summoner." He plugged it in after "hornless" and it turned green. Remaining in the bin were only two possible answers, as he knew the two summoners of the group to be Dona and Garnet. But the Ronso knew better than to tease Dona, so he frantically searched for a "Garnet" sphere.

Ma saw how close Barthello was to completing his board, but tried her best to stay focused on her own. There were only three left and she knew the answers to two of them.  
"Reno and Rude! Reno and Rude!" she shouted as she searched the bin. "Why can't I find them!?"  
She finally spotted the sphere and raced it back over to her board. "Fran and Balthier U-Turned Reno and Rude! And Reina and Faris," she pulled the incorrect "Reina and Faris" sphere from her board and moved it to the correct spot, "crossed Fran and Balthier."  
"And the only team that didn't place lower than sixth is..." She paused to think. "Not us. Not Biran and Yenke. Apparently not Reina and Faris. And it has to be someone from the top six..."  
"GOT IT!" Barthello shouted. He pulled a "Garnet" sphere from the bin and put it into the empty socket.

Biran & Yenke  
Biran & Yenke used an Xing on Ma & Zell in Leg 2  
Biran & Yenke were given plane tickets by Reno & Rude in Leg 3  
Biran & Yenke barely beat Barret & Dyne to the first Pit Stop  
Biran & Yenke teased Garnet constantly about being a hornless summoner  
Yenke copied Reina's slide puzzle in the Roadblock on Leg 10

A clue slid out from a slot beneath his question board as if it were coming out of a printer. He pulled it open and raced out of the room. Zell and Faris jumped to their feet when they saw somebody emerge, but both hit the wall near them and said "DAMMIT" when they saw it was Barthello. He joined Dona, who was openly happy for the first time in the entire race.  
"Okay, okay, shut up," Dona said. "We haven't won yet." She took the clue and ripped it open. "Make your way to the Finish Line aboard the S.S. Winno just off the Kilika pier!"

[Announcer Gippal]  
"Teams must now race back to the Kilika pier and find the S.S. Winno floating a mere ten meters away from the pier, so teams will have to swim for it. The first team to reach the Finish Line will be the winners of _The Amazing FF Race_ and will win the one-million gil."

[Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place]  
"We must hurry!" Barthello said. He and Dona raced backwards through the cloister of trials to reach the elevator at the beginning. It took them back to the entrance of Kilika temple and they raced outside. Both were starting to laugh as they ran down the steps to the temple, when, suddenly, they were halted by the monkey guard.  
"It works this way, too," he told them. Their hearts sank. "This is the number of worlds in the race. What is the password?"  
"Craven Monkey," Dona said quickly.  
"Incorrect!" he shouted. "You have to wait for three minutes!"  
"Nooo!" Barthello cried.  
"Did you know the answer?" Dona asked, feeling a little guilty for being so hasty.  
"No, I didn't. I just hope none of the other teams are close to finishing, since both teams were fairly close."  
"How close?" Dona asked.

Reina glanced at Ma's board to see how close she was, when she noticed Ma had completed a question that was not only similar to one of her own, but identical. "Zone & Watts and Fran & Balthier never placed below sixth?" she said to herself. She found some spheres in a pile of discards she left near her board and found a "Fran and Balthier" sphere. She plugged it in and searched for a "sixth" sphere.  
Ma was diving around in a bin of her own to try to find a "Zone & Watts" sphere, when suddenly she crouched down and started holding her side. She gave a quick wail of pain, then tried to stand up.  
"Are you okay?" Reina said, racing to her aid.  
"I'll be fine, thank you," Ma said. She walked to her board. "You know...Reina? I can't win. With such a head-start, Zell will likely try something stupid to get me to the finish and end up hurting himself."  
"That doesn't mean you can't-"  
Ma pulled out her own "sixth" sphere and handed it to Reina. "Don't let them win."  
"A-Are you sure?" Reina asked.  
Ma nodded. "Go get 'em!"  
Reina raced to her board and stuck the "sixth" sphere in the wall. Her final clue popped out the slot in the wall and she raced with it to the waiting room.

Zone & Watts  
Zone & Watts were U-Turned by Dona & Barthello in Leg 8  
Zone & Watts and Brahne & Garnet were the only ones to pick the Find Exit Detour in Leg 3  
Zone & Watts and Barret & Dyne were the only teams to fail a portion of the Junon parade/gun show in Leg 1  
Zone & Watts and Fran & Balthier are the only two teams to never place lower than sixth place  
Zone gave disinfectant to Sir Fratley to help with Freya's wound in Leg 3

"Yer kiddin'!" Faris shouted, when Reina came into the waiting room. She joined Reina and quickly became excited. "Come on, read on the way! I know where we be goin'! They read loud."  
"Okay!" Reina said, ripping open the clue as they headed through the cloister of trials backwards. Reina read the clue as she ran, then tucked it into her fanny-pack.

"Try again?" the monkey guard asked them after their three minutes had elapsed. "New question. This is the number of _galaxies_ in the race. What is the password?"  
"Craven Monkey," Dona said. "We'll just keep trying that until it _works._ "  
"Well, it worked this time," the guard said. "You may pass."  
"Thank goodness!" Barthello said. He and Dona tossed their bags aside and started to jog through the forest.

"There we go," Ma said, finding the "Zone & Watts" sphere and placing it in her board. She walked to Reina's board and took back her "sixth" sphere and plugged it into her own question. Her clue popped out of the slot and she took it out to find Zell.

Fran & Balthier  
Fran & Balthier U-Turned Reno & Rude in Leg 5  
Fran & Balthier were crossed by Reina & Faris in Leg 9  
Celes & Cid and Brahne & Garnet founded the Anti-Pretty-Boy Alliance against Fran & Balthier  
Fran & Balthier and Zone & Watts are the only two teams to never place lower than sixth place  
Fran & Balthier found the first of the 7 Wonders at Sunset Hill in Leg 6

"Good job, Ma!" he said. He grabbed the clue and ripped it open eagerly. "Make your way to the Finish Line aboard the S.S. Winno just off the Kilika pier! We can _DO THIS!"_ _  
_"I can't," Ma said. "I'm sorry to hold you back like this, but I'm too old to run across an island." Her eyes started to well up with tears.  
"Oh don't do _that,_ Ma! We're not crying, okay? We're just going to get to the Finish Line at our own pace!"  
"You're such a good boy," Ma said, trying to not cry, but only crying more. "I love you, Zelly."  
"Love you too, Ma!" He picked Ma up on his back and raced out of the temple with Ma riding piggy-back.

"Halt!" the monkey guard shouted at Reina and Faris.  
"Not again!" Faris shouted. "Craven Monkey!"  
"I haven't even asked the quetion yet!" he shouted. "Aha! This'll show you! This is the number of _worlds-_ "  
"Carved Monkey!" Faris shouted.  
"Dangit, fine!" he said, letting the girls pass. "But I do _not_ like you!"  
"Sooorry!" Reina shouted back at him as they raced through the forest.

Dona and Barthello reached the Kilika entrance and rushed to the pier. The people in the city recognized them and started clapping for them and moving out of the way. The gondolier waited at the entrance for Zell and Ma, but quickly made room for Dona and Barthello as they hopped in the gondola.  
Dona tossed all her gil at the feet of the gondolier. "Go! FAST!"  
"On it!" he said. He started pushing the boat as quickly as he could.  
Dona watched the S.S. Winno in the distance as it grew closer and closer. Suddenly, Barthello tapped her on the shoulder. " _What_?" she asked. She looked over her shoulder and saw Reina and Faris coming through the entrance as well. "Oh no..." Dona looked around at the crowded streets, where people had moved to one side to let Dona and Barthello through. "Everybody _get in their way!"_ Dona shouted. The crowd complied as they began to meander around the docks aimlessly.

"Pardon us!" Reina shouted at the people as she ran down the right dock and Faris took the left. They raced along both sides so that they took up less room in the crowded city's docks and were able to maneuver fairly well through the streets. Many parents pulled the kids out of the way, despite their desire to interfere and help the home team.

"I'm almost as far as I can go," the gondolier told Dona and Barthello. "This boat ain't got no motor or oars, so it'd be best to swim it when we reach the end of the docks. Ain't enough ground for my stick to push off."  
The end of the dock was coming up quickly and Reina and Faris were both gaining ground on them, though they were still only halfway.  
"I _cannot_ swim that far!" Dona told the gondolier. "Just _try_ to push us over there!"  
"He can't," Barthello said as the gondola reached the end of the dock and the gondolier haulted the gondola. "We'll swim!" Before Dona knew what was going on, Barthello picked her up by her red straps on her back and the criss-crossed stitching near her butt, then hurled her out into the ocean before diving in himself immediately after. Dona flew through the air and splashed down about halfway to the S.S. Winno and started to swim, despite how much she was currently pissed off at Barthello.  
"Ready, sis!?" Faris shouted as she and Reina neared the ends of their respective docks.  
"Ready!" Reina and Faris both dived into the water and swam full-speed for the boat.

Aboard the ship, out on the dock, was the large, red platform with the words _"The Amazing Final Fantasy Race"_ written on it. Gippal stood alone on the platform, waiting for the first team to arrive. Leading up to the platform were all the eliminated teams outlining a path to the platform. The teams stood by their partners and waited for the winners to arrive. Barret and Dyne ducked down in the front so that Cecil and Rosa beside them could see. Beside them were Reno and Rude, Zone and Watts, and Biran and Yenke, who were right up against the platform. Across from them, Cid and Celes waited eagerly beside Freya and Fratley, Brahne and Garnet, and Fran and Balthier, who were closest to the platform, across from Biran and Yenke. They all waited, several holding their breath.  
"Oh no!" Rosa shouted as Dona rounded the corner at full-speed.  
The teams waiting were startled by Dona's appearance, but started clapping nonetheless. The clapping soon escalated into a much louder applause and several people started shouting happily. Dona raced by the first pairs of past racers, when suddenly Reina and Faris swooped around her on both sides and dove for the platform. Dona was so startled that he legs went weak and she completely collapsed, only to be caught by Sir Fratley at the last second.  
Gippal began his speech with a large smile on his face. "Eight galaxies, thirteen worlds, countless miles, Reina and Faris, you are the official winners of _The Amazing Final Fantasy Race_!"  
"YAH-HAR!" Faris shouted, helping Reina up to her feet, only to watch her crumble right back down.  
"We won!?" Reina said through trembling lips. "I-I- I don't believe it!"  
"Believe it er not, sis, but the booty be ours!"  
"No way!" Reina jumped into Faris's arms and hugged her tightly. Her legs dangled above the ground as Faris continued to lift her higher and higher while swinging her around.  
Barthello finally reached the ship and raced for the end, but saw the sisters celebrating and Dona on the floor, sitting down near Fratley.  
"We lost," she told Barthello. "We're already home, let's just go back."  
"No," Barthello said sternly. "We're not going to be sore losers." As he walked toward the platform, he grabbed the red bow on Dona's back and dragged her up to the platform. She finally started yelling for him to stop and walked herself up.  
"Dona and Barthello," Gippal said, "you're officially second place!"  
"I'll take it," Barthello said happily. A hideous smile formed on his face. "I was so glad to race with Dona, even though so many people might think otherwise. But I...I... _I love_ her!"  
Dona looked up at Barthello with a shocked expression on her face. "You...do?"  
"Yes. I've told you that before, Dona."  
"But I never believed it. But now...why tell me _now_? We just _lost_."  
"I never lose if I have you," Barthello smiled. He grabbed Dona and pulled her in for a tight hug. She tried to squirm out at first, but then embraced him back. After hugging Dona, he turned around to the Tycoon sisters behind him and opened his arms. They looked around nervously and after repeating "oh no" several times, were caught in Barthello's giant embrace.

Not long later, Zell and Ma hopped up on the ship and joined in the celebration for the girls.  
"Ma and Zell," Gippal said, "you're officially third place!"  
"Who won?" Zell asked.  
"Reina and Faris," he said.  
"You're kidding!" Ma exclaimed.  
"Yeah, it was actually Biran and Yenke."  
"Okay, _now_ you're kidding!" Ma smiled. She turned to Reina and Faris and was attacked by Reina, who gave her a huge hug and many thanks.  
Zell walked up to Faris and wiped his hand off on his pants, then extended his hand for a handshake.  
"Can yeh wipe yer whole body?" Faris asked. Before Zell could figure out what she meant, she pulled him in for a hug.  
"What a great season, guys," Gippal said. "Let's take a group picture and call it a night, okay?"  
"No way," Reina said. "See, nobody has hugged you yet."  
"And nobody needs to. You're all soaking wet!"  
"That's how I know you've yet to be hugged."  
"Oh well, don't worry about it. Just...hug your partner again, okay?" He turned to run, but almost ran right into Barthello, who was behind him for a hug as well. He tried to cut through another direction, but Zell and Ma blocked him. "Yikes." Before he could react, Reina, Faris, Barthello, Zell, and Ma all came at him and hugged him from all sides.  
"This is ridiculous," Dona said as she started to leave the festivities on the boat. She walked along the edge of the boat to get by everybody, when Zone and Watts approached her.  
"Good race," Watts told her.  
"Right," she said. She tried to avoid him, but he continued to block her path. " _What?_ "  
"Just...a hug, okay?" he said. He moved forward and she moved back, when suddenly she noticed that the rope protecting the edge of the boat was not behind her as she expected, but was instead was unattached. The unattached end was in Zone's hands. Her foot stepped half-off of the boat and she started to stumble. She reached out to try to grab onto something, but couldn't regain her balance and she fell off the side of the boat and splashed down in the water below.  
"Forest Owls!" Zone and Watts cheered.  
"Dona?" Barthello said, breaking his hug/crush on Gippal. "Dona!" He raced for the edge of the boat and dove in after her.  
"We're never going to get to that group picture, are we?" Gippal said to the camera. "Oh well. Till next time, folks! We're actually making enough money to have a third season, so we hope to see you all there!"  
The camera showed some final clips of the group fishing Dona and Barthello from the waters, then posing for a final picture. It showed Reina and Faris a final time before fading to black.

 _[Author's Note: Thanks for reading season 2! I had a lot of fun with this season and really started to see what I could do with the series. I can't post any more on because of the html and images that are used in later seasons, so if you're interested in the next seasons, check out my website at . Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!]_


End file.
